Dryshore Demons
by Storylady35
Summary: "Not many demons still celebrate Satremon but I believe it is important to keep these traditions alive. Satremon is all about helping others, those less fortunate than yourself. You see Rin, it is said that when you help others, good things will happen to you in return. And the more you can help them, the more you get back, if not in this life then in the one beyond." (Bad Summary)
1. Part 1: Alboino Chapter 1

**Author's Note: so… it has been four moths since I uploaded a story onto Fan Fiction. And don't go thinking I've been out of ideas or something, I've had a LOT of ideas. I just haven't _finished_ any. Until now.**

**Dryshore Demons was originally written as an original work but when reading it back, I couldn't help but notice some… similarities between Ivy (Rin) and Askin (Sesshomaru) so decided to change the names and… publish as a fan fiction.**

**Now, there is something you NEED to understand before starting this and that is time.**

**As is commonly said; Time is a very strange thing.**

**So, short version; while 30 days may pass, a human will age as if 1 year has passed. Don't go looking into how long an hour or minute works out as, you'll only ruin the story. But as is no sun or moon, just a constant purple sky, days pass without notice.**

**This story is broken down into 9 parts which is one month/year each and then each part is made up of three chapters.**

**Oh, and sorry but Sesshomaru won't show up until Part 4: Kanbe. But I will be updating pretty quick so… anyway, enjoy!**

**Part 1: Alboino (10 Years old – March)**

**Chapter 1**

Arms weighed down with bags from his purchases, the tall man smiled to himself and to the people that he passed in the street, deciding to treat himself as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small striped bag filled with chewy sweets. As he popped one into his mouth, something caught his attention off to one side.

He turned to the alleyway he was next to, watching curiously as he saw a young child rummaging in some trash, looking for scraps to eat. Watching her pick through the dirt and filth, slowly the man stepped towards her, smiling as she looked up at him, her gasp fearful as she backed up into the wall.

He held up his free hand and nodded. "Hello there." He said, keeping his voice soft and warm.

She kept her eyes locked on his and her back pressed against the wall, her heart clearly pounding as she looked at him.

"Easy, I'm not going to hurt you." He confirmed then glanced down at his small striped bag, holding them out to her. "Would you like a sweet?"

Her eyes darted towards the bag but she made no movement to have one of the offered goodies.

Putting the other bags down, he knelt onto the floor, not caring if his own clothes got dirty, taking one from the bag and holding it up. "Ohh, cherry flavour, my favourite." He smiled at her and put it in his mouth, chewing it happily. "You sure you don't want one?"

As he munched on the sweet, he could see the hunger and curiosity in her eyes as she slowly swallowed and reached out into the small bag, and with her eyes still locked on his, she took one out between her fingers, briefly looking at the small clear shape.

"Oh, pineapple, very nice." He commented as he saw the colour.

The girl looked at the sweet then slowly put it in her mouth, chewing it softly, her eyes closing for a moment at the exotic syrupy flavour, her lips curling up with a bright smile.

Seeing her grin made his own grow and he nodded to her. "Good, right?"

She returned his nod with her own, still chewing slowly to make it last.

"Tell me, what's your name little one?"

"Rin." She mumbled with her mouth full

"Well, I'm Tarn. Tell me, how long have you been in Dryshore Rin?"

She blinked a few times at the odd question, swallowing the last remains of the sweet then looked up at the ever purple sky that hung above them. "I'm not sure, time is funny here."

The man glanced up as well. "Yes, that it is." He hummed and looked around for a moment before nodding. "So, Rin, would you like a hot meal?"

Her eyes widened at the idea but then she backed up into the wall again. "But… you're a demon."

Chuckling, he nodded, his turquoise hair ruffling softly as he did. "Yes, I am. But that doesn't mean I'll hurt you. There are good and bad demons just as there are good and bad humans." He smiled at her again. "So, if you want, you can come to my home and we can get you cleaned up and give you a hot meal. How does that sound?" He asked, holding out his hand to her.

For a bit, Rin looked at him before slowly reaching out and took his hand, holding it loosely.

Keeping his grip loose so not to scare her, Tarn picked up his bags in his other hand and walked out to the main street once more. Some of those they passed stared at the filthy little girl as she held the hand of the neatly dressed demon but Tarn didn't give them a second glance, even if Rin was a little disturbed by their looks.

It was a short walk down the street until they came to a row of shops, stopping outside one in particular; the window filled with all sorts of odd items like crystals, bird skulls, bottles of potions and jars of strange substances she couldn't identify. Shops like this weren't uncommon in the area but this one appeared to have a stronger presence than the others she had passed and looked at. This was a magic store with a sign above the door written in three different languages but the largest read 'The Sapphire Rune'.

Tarn opened the front door and allowed his guest to enter first, a soft bell marking their arrival, the shop inside having lots more jars and products for sale as the window showed while a counter was on the far side with a till and a door behind it. Suddenly a woman with dark tanned skin, red eyes and green hair tied up behind her head came out, wiping her hands on a cloth. "Oh, Master Tarn, you're back early."

"Any business Kusu?"

"Nothing I couldn't handle sir."

"Good. I want you to close up the shop for the day and then I would like you to put together a meal and a bath for my guest here." He smiled down at Rin by his side who was looking at the other demon in the room. "Rin, allow me to introduce Kusu, she's my assistant and housekeeper."

Kusu and Rin looked at each other, the green haired demoness smiled at her kindly. "It's a pleasure to meet you Rin." She said then looked at Tarn. "Satremon?"

Tarn nodded with his ever present smile, leading Rin behind the counter and through the door on the other side to a large central room, half of it looking like a kitchen with a cooker, surfaces and cupboards while the other half was filled with more jars, books and small stands for brewing potions. Letting go of her hand, Tarn walked over to a door on the far side of the room. "I will leave Kusu to look after you Rin. I will be in my study should you need me."

"Very well Master."

"I hope you behave yourself Rin."

She took a moment then slowly nodded. "Yes sir." She whispered.

"Good." The other chuckled then opened the door and stepped inside, the door closing silently behind him.

Left alone, Kusu chuckled. "Well then, let's see if I can find you something to eat while I close the shop?" Before Rin could say a word she was already walking around the place, pulling together a plate of food and placing it down on a table in the middle of the room. "Come and sit down my dear."

As Rin sat, she began to wonder if all this was some kind of trick and these demons were going to hurt or kill her. But at the same time, deep down, part of her wanted to believe it was real.

The plate of food that was placed before her contained some bread, cold meat and fruit while beside it was a cup of cold milk, a simple meal but to her, the freshest and most delicious meal she had seen in a very long time.

Slowly she nibbled on each bit of the meal, trying to make it last as long as she could, watching Kusu as she went from one room to the other, sweeping and cleaning, carrying things from the back room to the front. She didn't say a word to Rin but did give her a smile when she caught her eye.

Eventually she stopped, shutting and locking the door to the shop and began to work in the room with Rin, cooking something in the kitchen while also brewing in the other part of the room.

Having dragged her meal on as long as she could, Rin finally put her cup down and swallowed, licking the last bits of milk off her lips. "Thank you for the meal." She whispered as she waited for the moment she was thrown back onto the street.

Kusu looked up from her work and then at the empty plate. "Ah, finished have you? Would you like anything else? I have some ice cream if you'd like some?"

The idea was tempting but she shook her head. "No thank you ma'am."

"Alright then." She turned to the potion then turned off the flame, wiping her hands on her apron. "Come upstairs and we will get you cleaned up."

Tipping her head in confusion, Rin watched as Kusu opened another door in the room and revealed a staircase going to a level above them. The green haired demoness headed up first, Rin a careful step behind before they arrived on a small landing with five doors in it, Kusu heading to one near the back and pushed the door open.

Somehow the room was already full of steam and smelt of flowers while a toilet, sink and large bath were also in the room, a folding screen set to hide the bath from the view of the door. There was small neat rows of jars on a table near the sink and flowers sat on a chest by the door, the whole place feeling homely and warm. Kusu walked over to the bath and put her hand in carefully, testing the temperature before nodding and looking at Rin. "That should be just right for you." She said with a nod at the surprised Rin who was still stood in the doorway. "You get undressed and climb in. I'll be back in a bit to help you, I just realised I forgot something downstairs. I'll only be a moment."

Once she left and Rin was alone, she slowly walked over to the tub and looked at the water, her own reflection looking back and she saw herself; her face filthy, her hair a ragged mess, caked with mud and other things. She wasn't sure what her clothes had once been but now they were barely covering her body in a decent fashion.

She was glad to be rid of them, still folding them neatly on a nearby seat that she then used to climb into the bath, the heat a shock to her body but as she got used to it, she relaxed and began to rub the water into her face and over her arms.

A gentle knock at the door disturbed her and she gasped, covering her chest and pulled her knees up to under her chin, peaking out behind the screen to watch the door but only Kusu stepped in and smiled, holding a small tray in her hands. "It's alright dear, it's only me." She looked at her in the bath and closed the door. "How does that feel? Better?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Oh you can call me Kusu, I don't mind." She explained, removing the small pile of clothes from the chair so she could sit the side of the bath, taking a cloth and a bar of soap and using them to wash the girl's shoulders and back gently. Then she began to take a cup and poured water on her head.

After a few cups, her hair was soaked, mud flowing down to join the water below before Kusu gave a deep sigh. "Oh dear." She muttered then put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Rin, I thought we could clean your hair up but… I'm afraid we might need to cut it."

"C-cut it?"

"Yes, I'm afraid it's in too bad a state to save. I think the best thing to do would be to cut it off and let it grow back clean and healthy."

Reaching up and pulling a lock of black hair over to look at it, Rin thought about what was being suggested and realised she was right. "Alright… I guess."

"I will save what I can, I promise."

Taking a pair of scissors to the hair, the green haired demon gently snipped at the worst parts, silent in her concentration. Rin didn't mind, she just looked at the water around her and waited. Finally Kusu stopped cutting and began to rub something into her hair, rinsing it out a few times.

As she did, some water ran down into her eyes and Rin was forced to rub it away and swallowed. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

The woman smiled as she continued to work, getting what was left of the mud and dirt out of her hair. "Well, it would appear the master has decided you are to be his Satremon for the festival."

"Sacrifice!" Rin gasped, turning around to look at her with horror.

Kusu laughed happily. "No dear child! Satremon. Now sit still, I'm not finished."

"But what's a… Sat…sat…"

"Sat, ree, mon."

"Satremon." Rin repeated.

"Good. And Satremon is an ancient festival that demons celebrate every 50 years. It used to be really popular but it's fallen out of favour since demons now prefer the human holidays to their own historic ones." She sighed. "But there are still some of us who remember and celebrate it."

"But what is it?"

"Well, Satremon is all about helping others. Centuries ago, demons would go out and find someone…" She nodded and tapped her on the nose with a cloth. "Like you, who was less fortunate than themselves and they would give them a hot meal or fresh clothes or something to just help them get by. But some demons, like Master Tarn, will take someone in and do all they can to make their greatest wish come true."

"M-my greatest wish?"

"Yes, whatever that may be." She tipped her head slightly to the side. "Do you have a wish?"

Her gaze fell to the water before her, the clear water now grey with dirt. "I don't think anyone can make my wish come true."

"Oh? And what is it?"

"To see spring again."

Kusu frowned at the odd request as she combed her hair down, looking for knots or problems with it and hummed when she found none. "Why do you say that Rin?"

She didn't reply, just hugged her knees and looked at the water.

The house keeper decided not to push on the issue and did what she needed, washing off the last of the dirt and grime before getting her a big fluffy towel to dry with while she pulled out a large white shirt for her to wear. "It's one of the masters but he never wears it." She explained, helping roll up the sleeves around her arms. "It will do for one night."

"Night?"

"I told you, you're our Satremon. You get to stay here for as long as you want. You're our guest. Now, come along, we have a bed ready for you."

Swamped in the master's shirt, Rin walked behind the housekeeper and down the hallway to another room, looking in to see a cream room with shell shaped lights on the walls illuminating the room, the double bed already turned down and the curtains drawn over the window. Kusu walked to the bed and fluffed up the pillow. "Right then, come on, up into bed."

Slowly, Rin walked over and heaved herself up into the bed, her body soon sinking into the warmth and comfort of the sheets. Kusu smiled as she tucked her in, blanket up under her chin and the edges loosened so she could move and toss, sitting on the side and stroked the remains of her wet hair from her brow. "There, you try and sleep now Rin, and tomorrow we will talk more." She soothed.

Rin tried to stay awake but the gentleness of her touch and the sweet smells in the air and soft bedding around her had her dreaming in a matter of seconds.

Once sure she was asleep, Kusu slowly made her way out of the room, turning off the lights and pulled the door partly closed, leaving a crack of light from the hallway. From there she made her way to the study downstairs where she found the turquoise haired man busy with his books but he stopped when the housekeeper came in. "How is she?"

"Finally clean." She sighed, walking around the room and picking a few bits up as she went. "Took half a bar of soap to get all that dirt off but she's really quite pretty under it all." She took a seat near the demon. "Unfortunately I had to cut most of her hair off. I couldn't save it sadly."

"I'll prepare a tonic to help it grow back for her." The master said, already making a note to remind him to do the task. "Did you explain what was going on?"

"I did sir."

"And did she tell you her wish?"

The green haired woman nodded but then frowned as she remember the confusing conversation. "Yes, she did. But it's strange; I expected her to say something like 'to see my parents again' or 'to never be hungry', like the previous ones. But she said… to see the spring again. She wouldn't tell me what it means and I have no idea what to think of it."

Tarn frowned as he thought about the statement as well. "Nor do I. I will ask her tomorrow about it. Anything else I should know?"

"She's very polite and shy as a mouse. But she's a good girl, I can tell."

"Thank you Kusu. I'll see you tomorrow."

Kusu nodded her head at the dismissal and made her way out of the room to prepare for the next day.

* * *

**Hello again! Hope you liked it so far? Let me know in the review?**


	2. Part 1: Alboino Chapter 2

**Part 1: Alboino**** \- ****Chapter 2**

Time in the demon world was a strange thing; although it moved in the same fashion as the human world, in minutes, days and years, they were a lot slower than in the human one and the sky never changed from the purplish tint and the sun and moon never showed so the only way to tell the time was with a clock of some kind.

Humans and demons drifted seamlessly between the two worlds, golden gateways marking the points where people could cross between them but while someone could be in the demon world for a week, a whole month could pass in the human world. And a month in the human world could be little more than a day for the demon one.

So when Rin opened her eyes, the world looked the same as when she closed them, glancing around the room she was in. She hadn't noticed the chest of draws on the other side of the room before, a mirror and vase with flowers on it. Carefully she climbed out of the bed and walked over to the mirror, looking up at herself.

She still had the master's shirt on but she was amazed how clean she looked and how short her hair was. Kusu had been forced to cut it almost to the roots, uneven and rough around the edges. She didn't like it but she was glad how smooth it was and the fact it didn't itch anymore.

After staring at her appearance for a bit, she walked over to the main door and pulled it further open, looking around but the hallway was empty so she walked back the way she'd come the night before, back to the kitchen with its brewing section. Kusu was inside it, grinding something in a pestle and mortal but she looked up as the door opened.

"Ah, good morning Rin. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Now I told you to call me Kusu." She sighed, wiping her hands on her apron once more. "Would you like some breakfast?"

Rin didn't get a chance to answer as Kusu pulled a plate from a cupboard and filled it with some thick pieces of bacon from a pan, two boiled eggs, some fresh bread and another glass of cold milk. "There you go, sit down and eat it up."

With a nod, the girl sat and ate, a little faster than the meal she had the night before. She had decided that either these demons weren't going to hurt her or that they already had killed her and she was now in heaven. Either way, she was going to be happy for as long as this lasted.

As she finished the last bit of bacon, Kusu came over to her with a small bundle of dark blue fabric. "I was able to get this from Asmella across the road. It is too small for her girls now but it should fit you." She said, holding out a long sleeved blue dress complete with white lace and bows and began to judge the size between the child and the dress. "Might need to take the sleeves up a little."

Rin couldn't believe how good all this was; for a long time all she had to wear were the things she found in the rubbish that others had thrown out. She saw demons and humans walking around in outfits like this but she never thought she would have one with its floral pattern and ribbons.

After washing her hands and face, Kusu helped Rin change into the dress, smoothing down the edges and using some ribbons to hold the extra-long sleeves in place. "Oh you look lovely!" She cooed, brushing her hair back. "Simply adorable. It really suits you."

"It's very pretty." Rin agreed, unable to help herself from doing a twirl in it.

"Now why don't you go and show Master Tarn? I'm sure he would love to see you in your new dress and he did ask to speak to you when you woke up." She pointed to the door behind her. "He's in there. Just knock before you go in."

Swallowing, Rin nodded and walked over to the door, stopping before it to glance back behind her then knocking gently on the wood.

"Enter." Called from the other side.

Doing so, Rin looked around the room; most of the four walls were covered with bookshelves but the content was clearly all over the floor in semi neat piles, surrounding a small table in the middle, up over the chairs and most were around the desk on the forth wall under the only window in the room.

Tarn was sat at the desk, writing in a large thick tome but then glanced back to see who was at the door. "Ah! Rin, good morning!" He said, turning back to put a ribbon on the page and closed the book. "How are you feeling?"

"Well sir." She said with a nod, her fingers messing with the lace near her wrist.

"You look lovely in that dress by the way." He smiled at her. "Kusu was right, you are very pretty."

She gave him a shy smile, not sure what to say to such praise.

"And, before I forget, I have something for you." He said, opening a draw and pulling out a small bottle with a clear liquid inside. "This will help your hair grow back. Just take one spoonful before bed for three days. You'll have lovely long hair by the end of the week."

Taking the bottle, Rin nodded. "Thank you sir."

"You're welcome. Now, you and I need to talk." He sighed then moved from his desk to one of the chairs in the room that wasn't covered by books and lounged comfortably in it. "So, Kusu has explained what is going on right?"

"She…" She started then looked down at her bare feet.

"Go on?"

"She… said you are going to make my wish come true."

"That is what I will aim to do. Not many demons still celebrate Satremon but I believe it is important to keep these traditions alive. Satremon is all about helping others, those less fortunate than yourself. You see Rin, it is said that when you help others, good things will happen to you in return. And the more you can help them, the more you get back, if not in this life then in the one beyond." He leant forward in his seat a bit and nodded to her. "So, what is your wish Little Rin?"

She looked down at her toes once more, silent and waiting for the demon to speak again but when he didn't say anything, she lifted her eyes to look at him before quickly looking back down.

A few more minutes of tense silence filled the air then Tarn sighed, crossing his legs and resting his head on his hand. "Rin, I'm sure you don't know this… and I know I don't look it but I'm a very powerful demon. Whatever your wish is, I'm sure I can grant it. But you need to tell me what it is first."

Again silence but then she sighed. "You can't." She whispered at last, clasping her hands together before her around the bottle.

"Can't what?"

"Can't… help me."

He leant forwards to his knees and looked at her with a softer smile and confusion. "Why can't I help you Rin? Come on, be honest with me."

"'Cause…" She whispered, her body choking. "'Cause I'll be dead."

Her words had him stunned but then he smiled. "Don't be silly Rin. You're not going to die. Neither Kusu nor I will do anything to hurt you. You can stay here as long as you want. You can help in the shop and around the house. You won't be hungry or without anything for as long as you want to stay with me. And if you want to leave I will ensure you are settled for life."

Oddly the girl sobbed and shook her head again. "I'll be dead when the snow falls." She sniffed, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Rin…"

"I'm cursed." She finally confessed, looking up at him with eyes filled with tears and leaking down her cheeks. "I'm cursed to die when the first snow flake falls."

The demon frowned then quickly stood up, moving some books from the middle of the room to create a space. Then he went to the side and picked up a wooden box, placed it in the space he just created, pointing on to it. "Stand on that." He ordered then walked to his desk, rummaging to find something in the draws.

Wiping away her tears, Rin stood on the box as asked and watched as Tarn found what he was looking for and returned with a small crystal on a string hanging from his hand. He held it towards her so she could see it better. "Now, listen here Rin." He explained, looking her in the eye. "I'm going to prove to you that you are not cursed, alright. Now, if you were cursed, this crystal would glow when you put it around your neck." He held it towards her and nodded. "Now, put it on and see for yourself."

With a small nod, the girl wiped her face once more and reached out for the crystal to take hold of the string. As soon as her hand was even near it however, the clear stone shone a bright green.

Tarn couldn't stop the gasp as he watched, taking it back from her hand and the glow vanished but when he returned it to even near her skin, it began to glow once more.

"Oh my." He said, looking her over before taking her still out stretched hand and forced the stone into her palm. Once he let go, the crystal flew out of her hand and into the closest wall where it smashed into shards.

"Gods above." He swore, looking at the remains in horror before turning at the girl who was looking terrified herself. He finally swallowed and nodded, holding out a hand to her. "Don't move Rin." He said then hurried around the room picking up bits from different places and putting them in a metal bowl that he then placed on the floor near the box.

Holding his hand out over the mixture, he began muttering lowly, his words indistinguishable but it was clearly having an effect of some kind as a yellowish glow began to appear around her wrists, hovering over her clothes.

As Tarn continued, the glow became more defined and clear, gradually becoming shapes and then some form of writing. When they were as clear as they were going to get, Tarn stopped and reached out his hand to hold her wrist gently, using his grip to turn her hand left and right to look over the writing. "This is ancient magic." He said to himself and to her. "Powerful and old. I've never seen anything like it before." He turned his eyes to the child. "Who did this to you?"

"I… I don't remember." She said, looking downwards.

"Then how do you know about the snowfall?"

"A… a blind demoness… she found me in the street and… she told me that… at the first snow fall… my life will be no more." She looked up at him a little. "So I came to the demon world to slow the curse down."

"Of course, in the human world, winter is almost here… whereas it's only just spring now. But even here… you can't stop time, only slow it." He sighed softly. "That soothsayer was right, the speed this curse is working, by the winter it will…" He stopped himself, letting her hand fall and looked away to his books, thinking. "Winter in the demon world is years away. At least 10 human ones. As long as you remain in this world you will be safe and 10 years is a long time for a human. Long enough for me to find a way to break this curse." He turned back and smiled at her, reaching out and cupping her cheek. "You will see spring again Rin and you will see it many times to come. I promise you."

She tried to look grateful for his words and tried to believe him but even if he was lying, winter for the demons was a very long time away and in that time, she could have a life with Tarn and Kusu.


	3. Part 1: Alboino Chapter 3

**Part 1: Alboino Chapter 3**

Now that Tarn knew about the curse, his first task was to write down the symbols around her wrists and, what she didn't know, was around her neck as well. He copied each one carefully so when he was done, he had the curse filling up three whole pages of his book. Then he began to work on translating the symbols but it was slow work even for him.

Meanwhile Kusu helped Rin work; setting her to sweeping the floors of the house, changing the beds, doing the washing and helping with the cooking as well as tending to the garden at the back of the house and shop. Daily they would go out to the market together to buy food and ingredients for potions before sometimes stopping at the sweet store for Master Tarn who had a notorious sweet tooth.

Rin was quickly developing one too but Kusu ensured she had a balanced diet instead of just sweets and chocolates.

Once the girl was comfortable walking around town and interacting with humans and demons, Kusu began to teach her the ways of the shop, how to run the till and handle money as well as what everything was and what it did.

The customers were a little confused by the sudden appearance of a 10 year old human in The Sapphire Rune but they soon all agreed she was a delight to visit, sometimes they would come just to chat with Rin. Kusu couldn't help but be impressed by how the child handled the new found attention and how she would remember names and if they were a regular, she would even remember what they ordered.

Rin took great care of the shop, sweeping out all the dirt and leaves that were blown in, cleaning the windows inside and out regularly, even if she needed help to reach the top ones. She would perk up as soon as the bell rang and give the visitor a warm smile and a cheery 'welcome'.

When the shop was closed or business was quiet, she would always be asking if there was anything she could do to help Kusu and the demoness would find her something to do. She didn't allow her to do anything to do with potions but she taught her how to help cook their meals.

Every evening, the three of them would sit in the kitchen room and eat together, smiling and laughing and telling stories before Kusu would send Rin to bed where she would sleep peacefully till morning and start a whole new day.

One day while the master was out seeing to a customer, Rin and Kusu decided to try and clean his study. While Kusu cleaned up his desk, getting rid of sweet wrappers, remains from meals and tidied up the papers, Rin was tasked with returning the books to their shelves.

The task was made easier by the fact that years ago Kusu had put little spots of paint on the spine of each book then a corresponding colour on the shelves so she could easily return the books without having to guess the content.

It made Rin's a lot easier as she searched out all the green dots and returned them to the shelf labelled 'herbs and plants', spotting one in the middle of a stack and tried to pull it out without disturbing the rest of the pile but the whole collection went toppling over to one side and the books clattered to the floor.

Kusu yelped at the sudden noise and turned to see what had happened. "Are you okay Rin?"

"Yes, sorry. Didn't mean to knock them over."

"Well, be careful, some of these books are older than me and I'm over 700 years old."

Smiling, the girl got back to work, picking up a book that had fallen open and looked quickly over the typed writing within and the images as well as the hand scribbled notes that Tarn liked to write when working.

Rin turned to the page and let her eyes wander over the text, scanning the words and watching as they seemed to take meaning and make sense in her mind, turning a few pages to let whatever she was reading continue.

"Enjoying the book?"

She gasped loudly at the master's voice, snapping the book shut and looking up, embarrassed at being caught but Tarn just smiled at her as he leant on the doorframe.

"Ma-master Tarn?! I… I was just… I was… umm…"

"It's alright to be curious Rin." He told her honestly. "I'm just surprised you can read that text."

"I didn't know I could." She confessed, looking at the now closed book in her hands. "But the shapes just… they make sense. I don't know what they mean but… when I was looking at them, I could almost feel something."

Confused by her explanation, Tarn hummed then walked to one of the shelves in the room, perhaps the only one that still had books on it and selected one, flicking through the pages until he found something and held it out to her. "Can you read this for me? Aloud?"

Obedient, Rin took the book and looked over the page, half an image of a complicated symbol of some kind and the other were words. After a second to read it and allow it to make sense, she began to repeat it aloud. As she did, the image on the other page began to change from black ink to purple and it slowly moved, spinning around on the spot and glowing, gradually getting faster and faster.

"That's enough."

The girl stopped and the page returned to being still.

Tarn was still staring at her with his smile but now Kusu was watching as well. "Did she just…"

"Yes, she did. That is interesting."

"But… it's impossible. No human can use our magic."

"You saw it for yourself Kusu, she just did." He moved closer and knelt on the floor with Rin, looking over her with a careful eye. "I don't understand how this is possible but… it's fascinating."

"Do you think it is related to the curse?"

Tarn's eyes went wide as he looked at the other demon. "I hadn't thought of that. A spell in the oldest language known… it may have an effect on the victim." His gaze turned back to the young girl and hummed. "Rin, you do keep surprising me."

Not sure what to say, she looked down at the book, amazed by what she had been able to do.

"I guess this changes a few things." Tarn said at last with a nod.

"C-changes things?" Rin questioned, looking up slightly.

"Of course, when I find something with talent and promise, there is only one thing I can do." He grinned at her. "I'm going to teach you how to use that power you have."

Both Kusu and Rin gasped at the statement with Kusu shaking her head as she reached out to hold Tarn's arm. "But… sir, she's human. Isn't there a law about humans using magic?"

"There is a law forbidding the use of magic on a human but nothing about a human using magic since everyone has always thought it was impossible." He smiled. "Besides, she may not be able to conduct full spells, it may just be simple ones but only time will tell. I can see no harm in using the gift she has." His gaze turned to the child. "So, what do you say Rin? Would you _like_ to learn?"

She paused for a moment, thinking over her choices but then nodded. "Yes please."


	4. Part 2: Eschete Chapter 1

**Part 2: Eschete (11 Years old – April) Chapter 1**

The human and demon worlds both had their powers and gifts; humans having electricity, technology and science and vastly outnumbered demons, demons had magic and natural abilities such as incredible speed and strength.

Some feared the demons for their powers, believe they were only used for death and destruction and while it was true that every few years a demon would try to destroy all humans, every now and then a human would try to use science to destroy all demons. These battles would often unite humans and demons and they would work together to defeat those that threatened them.

Demons like Tarnanok were cornerstones in the society for demon magic, teachers for those who wanted to learn the art and protectors of towns and cities where they were based while they also sold and provided all sorts of services and things to help both species.

As far as demons went, while he was powerful, Tarn was only a middle level demon but it didn't stop him from being respected and sort after by his customers since his main talent was in finding things that had been lost; from a stolen wallet to a lost child, to helping an old man find his false teeth. He had other skills but no one in Dryshore could match him for looking for things.

Demon magic was split into three parts; potions, enchantments and spells and at the beginning of her training, Tarn set Rin up with enchantments, taking everyday items and giving them an new use by casting spells on them. One of the most popular products the shop sold were 'seeker sticks', a sort of matchstick that when burned, the flame would grow brighter when the holder was facing whatever they were looking for.

It was a good starting point for Rin and after only a few failed attempts and burnt fingers, she was creating seekers as good as Kusu could. That was when Tarn realised that the power within her was not as slight and simple as he had once thought and began to teach her other things like how to make potions and the basics of spells.

He watched her carefully as she learnt and practiced, letting her make mistakes and learn from them, encouraging her to read the texts that were in his study whenever she wanted and was never too busy or tired to deny answering any questions she had about magic. She sometimes struggled but with enough time and practice, she would learn the new skill he set to her.

One afternoon, Tarn was in his study, looking over and over the books in his collection, trying to find one in particular, huffing as he was unable to locate it and ended up going to find his house keeper. "Kusu, have you seen that copy of 'Algometric Runes and Phrases'? I can't find it anywhere."

The woman looked up from her work as she prepared lunch for the trio and blinked. "Oh, the library sent one of their messengers to collect it a few days ago. I must have forgotten to tell you."

Tarn chuckled. "More likely you did and I've forgotten."

Kusu gave him a small smirk. "You said it not me."

The master smiled back at her then sighed and shook his head. "Oh well, I guess I will need to go and loan it out again." He looked to a nearby clock. "The next train is in an hour… I could make it there and back in one day."

"Would you like me to pack your lunch for you?"

Tarn paused then smiled. "Make that two. I think it's time I took Rin to the library."

"Are you sure that is a good idea?"

"No one needs to know about her curse or her powers. I can just say that she is my new shop aid, since it has gotten too busy for you to handle it alone."

"I suppose that would work." Kusu agreed and nodded. "But you better take care of her in Central. There are lots of dangers in places like that."

"Don't worry, I will."

"And don't go spending all your money in the sweet shops again! I swear you are sneaking them behind my back again."

"Remind me who employs who?"

Kusu put a hand on her hip and glared at him. "You employ me to look after you and that includes your diet."

Tarn rolled his eyes then decided to change the subject. "Where is Rin?"

"Out back, in the garden."

With a nod, Tarn headed for the back door to the house and out into the small but neat little garden while an extension from the back cut off part of it but it made way for a room with a second toilet and shower for the household. The little girl was sat by a flat flower bed where some purplish plants were growing, tall and thin with thick leaves and small flowers that would one day turn to berries they could use. However, the girl was more interested in the leaves than the flowers, looking between a book on her lap and a leaf on the plant, her brow furrowed in concentration.

"How are the aalite looking Rin?" He asked as he came over and knelt beside her.

She looked between the book and the leaf once more then turned to look at him. "Master Tarn, do these brown spots look round or square to you?" She asked, showing him what she had been looking at.

After a second to examine the plant, Tarn shook his head. "I'm not sure. Why? What do you think it is?"

"Well, if they are round then it means this plant will have a bumper crop and produce really good fruit. But if they are square then it's an infection and it may spread to the other plants and we will lose the whole crop. I don't want to pull out a good plant."

"I see your issue." He hummed, looking once more to see if he could tell the difference but he finally sighed. "I don't know Rin, plants were never my strong point. Have you asked Kusu?"

"Yes and she's not sure either."

"Well… I think I know somewhere that might be able to help you find the answer."

"Where?"

"The library in Central." He said with a nod. "I need to go to get a book out and I was wondering if you would like to join me?"

"Oh yes please sir!"

Tarn smiled and nodded. "Alright then. There is a train leaving in an hour. If you are quick we can make it. Go put your coat on and meet me at the front of the shop."

As requested, Rin was fast to go up to her room and grabbed her coat. Fashion was a funny thing to demons; while they embraced the trousers and t-shirts of the humans, many of them preferred the traditional attire of demons which were dresses or skirts for women and shirts and jackets for men. Both Kusu and Tarn preferred the demon fashion and Rin did lean more towards their side but she still preferred to wear trousers over skirts. It earned her a few looks but she was young enough to get away with it and being human made people less concerned.

Coat on, she headed down to meet Tarn and took a small backpack off Kusu which she said had their lunch in it and made them promise not to go to the sweet shops in Central. After they both swore they wouldn't, they headed off for the train, Tarn buying the tickets and they climbed aboard. The train was a purely human contraption, run by electric wires overhead and was filled with all sorts of modern features and comfortable seats. As Tarn and Rin found a spot to sit, the demon pulled out a book from his pocket and began to read while Rin looked eagerly out the window.

A few minutes later, they began to move and the small town of Dryshore soon faded into the distance and they were surrounded by fields then forests, small towns passing by as fast as a blink.

When the train's conductor came by to check their tickets, Tarn decided to look at his young student as she knelt on the chair beside him and watched the world fly by. "Have you ever been to Central before Rin?" He asked, putting his book away.

"I can't remember."

"Oh, yeah, of course." He sighed. "You still don't remember anything?"

"The first thing I remember is running through the street. Before that… nothing but these odd… strange sounds and bright lights."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to remind you." He smiled a little at her. "But tell me, are you happy with me?"

Turning back to face him, Rin slumped into her seat. "Yes sir. Very."

"I'm glad to hear it." He sighed under his breath. "But you would tell me if you ever wanted to leave? You know I would find you a good home and someone to look after you. You don't have to stay with me."

Rin thought about it then shook her head. "I wouldn't want to be anywhere but with you and Kusu and the shop. You have been amazing to me and I could never leave you."

Smiling at her response, Tarn nodded. "I'm glad. You know, I didn't realise it until a few days ago but you have been with us for a whole year. I didn't realise until the other day when I got a bill for something I brought the day we met."

"A whole year?"

"In the human world, a whole year has passed but here, only a month has." He smirked. "Time is quite annoying between our worlds but it means you are now 11. Happy birthday Rin."

"Thank you sir."

His gaze drifted to the window. "We should be arriving soon. I think I can just about see Central in the distance. But before we arrive, Rin, we need to go over some things."

"Like what sir?"

"Well, don't wander off. Kusu would never forgive me if you got lost."

"Okay."

"Second, you don't tell anyone about your curse or about your… abilities." He said after a short pause and lowered his voice. "It's not a bad thing but if someone found out, I'm worried they would try to take you away from me, to experiment on you." His dark purple eyes hardened a little. "So if anyone asks, you are my new shop worker, understand?"

"Yes sir."

"Good." His gaze softened and he smiled at her. "And, one last thing; Central has one of the largest passing points between the human and demon worlds. I want you to promise me you will tell me if you feel ill or sick or anything out of the ordinary. I don't know how your curse will react being close to the human world."

"I will Tarn, I promise."

"Good. Oh and don't worry." He winked. "We will be stopping at the sweet shops while there, never mind what Kusu said."

With a chuckle, Rin nodded then looked up as the train announced they would be arriving soon and she looked out the window to see their destination. Ahead of them was a city filled with glass and metal but also stone and wood, ancient and modern perfectly balanced in the city, sky scrapers reaching up while temples and schools spread wide.

The main building reaching up into the purple tinted sky was a pair of golden pillars that went so high it was impossible to see the tops for the clouds that floated around them. While there were hundreds of gaps between the human and demon worlds, most of them were too small to use and would often close for most of the year. There were only 15 across both worlds that were constantly open and worked as stations between the two. The Central Golden Gates was the largest of these 15, the golden supports enchanted to keep it open or to shut at a moment's notice if needed but in its 65 thousand years of existence, the gate had only been forced shut three times.

The train stopped at a station just ahead of the gate but the track itself went onwards, into the gate and through to the human world beyond but Tarn and Rin climbed off with a lot of other visitors, heading down to the streets and finding somewhere to stop and get their bearings while Rin was admiring the stores around her, human and demon side by side and filling the place.

Even if this was the demon world, there were far more humans to demons around, chatting, shopping or heading to and from work. She took in a deep breath and could smell all sorts of street foods and goodies.

"Rin, come on." Tarn called as he headed on down the pavement beside a smooth tarmacked road, a human invention that hadn't reached Dryshore yet where roads were still stone and dirt. Something else she hadn't seen in Dryshore were cars, most of them moving slowly as the demons walked in the road and not on the pavement, earning them angry honks from drivers.

The girl kept good pace with her master as he headed down the pavement, trying not to get too distracted by shops and people and unusual sights.

They walked a bit more, the shops slowly becoming more demon but there were still human influences to be spotted like TV aerials. Eventually they turned a corner and came to a split in the road; on the other side was a small garden with a tiny stone building in the middle with a wooden roof. Carefully crossing the road, the pair headed over but when they got to the door, Tarn let out a groan. "Ah great. Closed." He mumbled, looking at the sign. "They must have some big shot visitor who doesn't want to be disturbed. That's annoying."

"What do we do now?"

Tarn smiled as he walked over to a nearby tree and knelt down, picking up two pebbles from the dirt. "Have you learnt about Markers yet Rin?"

"I think so… they are those… umm… you cast a spell on an item and if it is ever moved, you get like a… umm…" She thought hard then bit her lip. "Like a buzzing?"

"Close enough but yes, you get an alert to the double." He placed one of the two stones he had picked up by the library door, where there was a small pile already there. "Now, while we wait, why don't we go and do some shopping?"

The girl nodded and they headed off once more, towards the city's main shopping district where they found an open aired market place, hundreds of stands and vendors of various things both for humans and demons. Tarn wandered aimlessly for a bit, sometimes stopping at a stand to look at what they had on offer.

Rin would look as well but most of the time she didn't know what she was looking at and didn't want to ask.

As they wandered, Tarn suddenly changed his path and began to walk towards one shop in particular, Rin a step behind him with a curious smile. The shop he stopped at appeared to be a jewellery stand with several displays of necklaces hanging from the sides while trays showed rings and bracelets.

The demon behind the counter bowed his head softly at them. "Good day sir. How can I help you?"

Tarn looked over the rings and other items then at Rin. "I think it's time we got you a Hinsu ring Rin."

"A Hinsu ring?" She asked. "What's that?"

"Well, humans have devices called mobile phones but for some reason, they don't work unless you are next to a gap but demons have had Hinsu rings much longer. They work the same way." He held up his hand and showed her the blue stone on a twisted gold metal ring he always wore. "They can be paired up with others, like this one is to Kusu. So I can send her a message if I ever need to." He turned to the shop keeper then picked up two rings. "May I?"

"Please." The demon said with a smile.

Passing one to Rin, Tarn slid the shop ring onto his finger then pressed the stone at the top. "You press it, then when it changes colour…" The stone in his hand went from a pale blue to a bright yellow. "You speak into it with your message, just like this. Then you touch it again and it sends your message to the other ring or rings it is linked to." Tarn explained, tapping the ring again. "But those receiving it have to have their ring on to get the message."

Rin looked at the ring in her hand then placed it on her finger and suddenly the stone began to pulse yellow. Carefully she tapped it and held it to her ear. "_'You speak into it with your message, just like this. Then you touch it again and it sends your message to the other ring or rings it is linked to'_." Came Tarn's voice from inside the ring. "That's amazing!" She chuckled, passing it back.

"Yes, and I think you should have one of your own. They will work for humans as well as demons so it's perfectly alright. Feel free to pick out a ring you like the look of."

Eyes wide at the idea, Rin stepped over and looked over the impressive collection, picking up and looking over a few as she did before finally picking out one with a reddish tint to the simple metal and a flower shaped pink stone in the middle. "Can I have this one please?"

"Of course Rin." Tarn chuckled as he passed the ring to the shop owner and also removed the ring from his own finger. "Please link it to this and all connected to it."

"Yes sir. It will take a few minutes."

"We have time." He nodded, turning to look at something else before spotting Rin reaching out for a necklace that hung on the shop side. "What have you got there Rin?"

She quickly retracted her hand and put it behind her back. "Nothing." She said instantly.

Tarn smiled then picked up the crystal she had been reaching for. "When it comes to crystals, it is often a good idea to follow your instincts. They will often call to you for some reason." His gaze turned to the stone, a blue stone only an inch long and cut in a tear drop. "Interesting. This is a healing crystal, it helps people get better from sicknesses. I wonder why it called out to you."

"Could it be something to do with…" she blinked and looked away, remembering what he had said.

Tarn hummed as he realised what she had. "It is possible I suppose. We don't know what it does to you. But if this stone called out to you then there must be a reason." His gaze turned back to the shop keeper. "We will have this as well."

"If you wish sir." He said with a nod, taking the blue teardrop. "Will there be anything else?"

"No, that will be all."

"Alright sir. The Hinsu ring is ready now. With the necklace and the enchantment that's…. 320 frabsi."

"I forget how expensive cut healing crystals are." He sighed to himself, pulling out his wallet and sorting out the paper currency, handing it over to the shop keeper and then taking back a small bag with two jewellery boxes in it.

"Thank you for your business sir."

With a polite nod, the master turned to his guest. "Come along Rin." He said and they walked off, turning a corner before Tarn pulled the boxes out and opened them, putting the metal chain of the healing stone around her neck. "There, and you know what, healing or not, that stone looks beautiful on you."

Rin held the stone and watched the light shine off it before nodding. "It's very pretty, thank you for buying it for me."

"Ah, call it a birthday present." Tarn chuckled then turned to the other box. "Now traditionally you wear a Hinsu ring on your left middle finger but you can wear it wherever you want."

Taking it from the box, Rin put the ring onto her middle finger but then moved it to her ring finger. "Is this okay?"

"That's perfectly alright Rin." He sighed. "Now, I'm not sure about you, but I'm hungry. Why don't we go and sit down and eat the lunch Kusu packed for us?"

With a smile, they headed off to find somewhere to sit and eat, finding a spot nearby and pulled out the two boxes from Rin's bag. As she did, she was surprised to find how light they were and when they opened, she couldn't help but laugh loudly, Tarn joining her. Inside the two boxes were a few paper frabsi notes and a handwritten bit of paper; 'Don't spend all of it on sweets. Enjoy your day out. Kusu'

Chuckling, Tarn folded the note and put the frabsi in his pocket. "Typical Kusu. Guess we are going out for lunch then."

Rin smiled and held out the money she had been given to him but Tarn pushed it back. "Kusu gave it to you. It's yours. I've been meaning to set up an account for you."

"Why?"

"Well you work in the shop, you make products, you do a really good job of them too Rin. You deserve to get paid for your work. So that money, and any left after our lunch, is yours to keep and I will make sure you are paid from now one for your work." Tarn informed her. "And you can spend it on whatever you wish."

She blinked and looked at the small handful of frabsi in her hand, no more than 40 but far too much for just a meal. Kusu clearly had the idea that she would want to shop.

The master still chuckled as he stood up. "Well then Rin, come on, let's go buy some lunch." He glanced back and frowned at her, still holding the money. "You better put that in your bag Rin. It's not wise to walk around holding your money out like that."

"Oh. Yes sir." She said, putting it and the two empty boxes back before they headed off to find some lunch. The collection of foods available was intense but they ended up with human fish and chips. Half way into their meal, Tarn's marker went off so they headed back to the library.

Several other demons were also entering the building and heading down a great long staircase going under the ground itself. Some nodded to the master who returned the gesture but most ignored them. "You see Rin, to save space on the land above, the library was built underground." Tarn explained as they walked down. "If it was above ground, it would take over a quarter of the city, the demon library is so large. So you better stay close to me."

"Yes sir."

They spent several hours in the library, Tarn not just finding the book he wanted but also showing her around and introducing her to a few important people like the library staff and a few demons that happened to be in the library that day. Since it was so large, they couldn't see it all but he did show her where to find the important parts and to find the books on her problem plant.

Checking them out at the large front desk, they returned to the surface and, after a detour via a sweet shop where Rin spent most of her frabsi on a collection of treats, finally they returned to the train for Dryshore.

At the shop, Kusu was cleaning up when she heard the door open and turned to see who it was and found herself grinning as the Master of the house came in with a little girl asleep in his arms. "I think she had a good day."


	5. Part 2: Eschete Chapter 2

**Part 2: Eschete (11 Years old – April) Chapter 2  
**

Rin hummed contently as she concentrated on getting the last of the leaves swept out from under the counter and pulled them to a pile in the middle of the shop. The storm the night before had shaken them loose from the tree outside the shop and now every time the door opened, more would come inside and Rin had to sweep them back out.

It was one of the few times that it was just herself and Kusu in the shop since Master Tarn had left to go and get some herbs from a distant farm but he would return by the next day.

Just as Rin finished sweeping up the pile, the door to the shop opened and they was blown back under the counters and even more joined them. Trying to hide her annoyance at her work being ruined, she turned to the new customer with a smile.

The woman was a human with brown hair in a pair of jeans and a jacket, her eyes full of tears while there was a fearful and worried look to her face. She scanned the shop quickly before locking on the small human with her broom. "I… I need to speak to Master Tarnanok." She said with a sniff, her body trembling with tears. "M-my son… my son, Ralph… he's missing." She pulled out a small photo from her pocket, showing a boy with brown hair like her in a school photo. "He… he ran away from home yesterday but no one has seen him. Please, I need Tarnanok's help."

Rin swallowed and shook her head a little. "I… I'm so sorry but the master is out at the moment… he isn't due till tomorrow."

"No…" The woman whispered, staggering a little to lean on the back wall. "No, my boy… I need to find him."

"Rin, what is it?" Kusu asked, having come out on hearing the doorbell.

"This lady needs help finding her lost son. But… with Master Tarn out…." She trailed off, looking at the helpless woman as she cried into her hands.

Kusu looked at her for a bit then nodded. "We can help find him. I'm not as powerful as Tarnanok but I can still help. Please, come to the back room. Rin, close the shop."

"Thank you, oh thank you." She sniffed as she wiped her eyes and followed the demoness behind the counter and into the back room.

Rin watched them go but then quickly turned to the task at hand, shutting the shop down for the day. She may have skipped a lot of the jobs required but soon the shop was dark and locked up and Rin entered the back room, looking at the woman who was now sat at the table with a hot drink while Kusu was working on making a potion.

Like many humans, the mother was watching with fascination as the demoness worked, the action calming her a bit. Rin herself was fascinated, this kind of potion was far beyond her skill level and would be for a long time but Kusu was doing it without a book to guide, working purely from memory.

"Rin, can you get me the seekers eye please?" Kusu asked, not breaking a movement in her task.

Nodding, Rin went to the woman and smiled. "Do you have something that belongs to Ralph? Hair, blood and teeth are the best but clothes would work too."

"I was told you would need those." The lady said, reaching into her bag and pulling out a small box. "One of his baby teeth. Will that work?"

"It will. Thank you." Rin said, taking the box and returning to the table to watch Kusu.

She often watched Tarn work on making potions and enchantments, both for her lessons and out of curiosity but she rarely got to see Kusu work on anything more complicated that lotions and making dinner. It was clear however, that Kusu was as skilled and talented as Tarn was at her job, the finished product as clear as the master's, a sign of its potency and strength.

"Rin, the pointer?"

"Oh, right…" Rin said, embarrassed she had forgotten the important part, running to a draw and picking up a large metal device that fit onto the wrist of the wearer; made up of two circles of metal, one with engravings while the other was plain. In the middle of the circles was a thin hollow cylinder that sat on an axis so it could move in all directions.

They were similar to a human compass but while a compass would only point north, a pointer would show the way to whatever it was programmed to find. Kusu filled four small vials with the potion and slipped one into the hollow cylinder then popped the tooth into a second compartment, shutting the flap tight to keep it inside.

A moment later the potion began to seep into the other chamber and the outer ring of the pointer span several times before falling still. Kusu turned it from side to side, watching the ring move, checking that the symbols continued to point in the right direction.

"Good." She said at last, attaching it to her wrist. "I have a lock. Madam, don't worry, I will find your son. For now, return home. Rin, get your coat, you are coming with me."

"Are you sure Kusu?"

"You are too young to be left alone. You will have to come with me." She sighed then nodded her away. "Now hurry."

Once both Kusu and Rin had their coats on, they left the lady at her home and began to follow the pointer. They walked down the main street of Dryshore, out towards the outskirts of town. Even if it was late afternoon, the demon sky was its normal ever purple hue and the light was enough to see by so they carried on, heading out of town and down on the main roads that connected Dryshore to its neighbours.

They continued onwards, not sure where they were going but the pointer lead down the road so they followed it, looking constantly for Ralph but they only passed a few people on the road. Eventually Kusu realised that the boy was much further away than they expected and Rin was beginning to lag behind her.

Glancing back, she saw Rin was walking with an exhausted look, realising that the child had been working in the shop all day and now they had been walking for hours. The demoness sighed and turned to her. "Rin, I think it would be better for me to go on ahead alone. I'll be faster without you and you are too tired to keep walking." She looked around and spotted a large tree by the road side, heading over and looking to the girl. "Stay here. If I'm going to be too long, I will send a message to your Hinsu ring. Alright?"

"Alright."

"Stay here. Don't wander, alright?"

"I promise."

With one last look, the demoness went back to the road. "I'll be back soon." She promised, turning and walking away a lot faster than when Rin had been following her, the demonic power in her body making her speed.

Alone, Rin entertained herself by picking the wild flowers from the roadside and separated them into flowers with medicinal and magical properties and those that just looked nice.

As she concentrated on one in particular, she heard the rumble of a cart and looked up to see who was coming. This far from the cities, the roads were little more than dirt tracks filled with rocks and potholes that weren't easy for a car to get along so most people travelled by horse or by carriage or in a cross country car but not many could afford those.

The cart that approached now was quite large, with a flat back that contained a box covered in a tarp while two men sat at the front, one holding the reins to the two horses that were pulling it. He called them to a stop before her and looked directly at her, giving a smile.

Not a warm, kind and gentle smile Tarn would give or the caring, compassionate loving smile of Kusu. This was a smile that made her tense with fear.

"Hello there little lady." He said as he looked at her. "What are you doing all the way out here? Alone."

Rin swallowed then picked up her flowers from the floor. "Picking flowers." She said as bravely as she could.

"So far from town?" He asked then looked up and down again. "Where is your mother?"

"At home." She lied. "She will be expecting me home soon for dinner."

"Where is your home?" The man asked, jumping down from the cart. "We can give you a lift."

Stepping back, Rin shook her head. "My home is that way." She said, pointing back the way the cart had just come. "I… I should go… my mother will be looking for me." She began to carefully edge her way towards the road and around the cart.

The men looked at each other then one nodded and climbed down on the other side, walking around and jumping in front of the girl, startling her into stepping back into the other man who then grabbed her, pinning her arms to her side. When she screamed and struggled, his other arm came up over her mouth and his grip tightened.

"Shut up kid!" He hissed to her while the other grabbed some rope, pulling her arms behind her back and tied them there tightly. She gasped at the roughness but even more when they pulled the tarp back and revealed a cage with four children inside around her age.

She looked at the men around her and tried to kick her way free, biting down on the hand in her mouth. The man yelped at the pain then turned her around to face him, lifting his hand up and striking her across the face. "Dam it, kid's a biter. Get me a gag."

As the other went to do as told, Rin took the moment to wiggle her hands in the ropes, wincing at the pain and pressed her Hinsu ring, tapping the stone and could only hope her plan worked. She struggled as a dirty rag was wrapped around her mouth and silenced her, the man then grabbing her by the back of her hair and pulled her towards the cart. "Come on, if we hurry we can still make the ferry."

"We were lucky to find that one, we were behind on our quota."

"Yeah, and she's a pretty one." The other sneered as he pushed Rin into the cage with the other children. "Should get a good price for her."

"As if they care what they look like, they just want to eat them. Now come on or we'll be late."

"Do you think we need a disrupter on this one?"

"Nar, by the time they realise she is missing, we will be across the sea. Now lock it up and move!"

The last man looked at the kids and grinned before slamming the door shut and bolting it. "Now you be good kiddies and keep quiet." He chuckled then pulled the tarp down, cutting off the light.

The boys sniffed and cuddled together even with their hands tied behind their backs. Rin however, leant forwards, closing her eyes against the pain of twisting her fingers in the unnatural way, she pressed the ring again then leant back, hoping Kusu got the message.

Further down the road, Kusu was glaring angrily at her pointer. One moment it was leading her one way then it would switch and lead her another way so either the boy was moving faster than her, which was impossible for a human child, or the pointer was broken.

Suddenly her Hinsu ring, a green metal band with three red stones, began to flash so she pressed the gems and raised it to her ear to listen, expecting to hear Rin ask if she was coming back yet. At first all she heard was shuffling but then she could hear men and her heart felt cold.

_"Do you think we need a disrupter on this one?" _One of them said in the recording and she couldn't help but feel silly for not thinking of it.

Disrupters were the opposite to pointers, designed to hide someone or thing from being found by a pointer. Only really powerful demons like Tarn could overpower them but if these people were using one then she had no chance of finding the boy. However these people weren't using them on Rin.

Quickly Kusu reached up to her neck and removed a locket she wore, opening it and finding three small locks of hair, one green, one silver and one black. She took one of the black hairs, emptied out the tooth from the pointer before replacing it with Rin's hair.

Instantly the pointer turned back up the path she had come down, so Kusu turned and ran until she came back to a crossroad she had passed before. The last time the confused pointer had sent to the right, in land, but the men had said 'ferry' and the only ferry in range was to the north.

Instead of heading back up the road to Dryshore, she headed down the north road to get ahead of them and on finding a decent spot, she stopped and got to work. She ripped the sleeve off her dress, made a tear in the skirt, knelt down and rubbed dirt and leaves into her arms and over her clothes, took off one of her shoes and hid it behind a tree before pulling her hair out of its bun and ruffled it about.

As the pointer began to glow a white, showing the target was close, she took it off, put it in her pocket and got on the ground face first, closing her eyes and listening.

Gradually she heard the sound of hooves and cart wheels approaching then pulled to a stop. "Hey, it's a demoness." A man called out.

"She looks out cold."

"Should we help her?"

"Idiot, do you know how much they would pay for a demoness like her? Come on, get some chains, we will tie her up and take her with us."

"Right."

Kusu had to really control herself as one of the men kicked her side to ensure she was out then reached out and lifted her head up to look at her face. She still didn't move, waiting for the sounds of chains and footsteps coming closer. Just as she felt the metal on her skin, she pushed herself up off the ground and swung her arm out, elbowing one of them in the neck and kicking the other between the legs. As he bent over, she brought her elbow down on his back, driving him down to the ground before turning and head butting the other.

Both fell to the floor dazed and in pain but the demoness wasn't finished as she grabbed the chains they had intended to bind her with and forced the humans to be back to back and wrapped them up, locking them in place.

Once sure they weren't going anywhere, she went to the cart and pulled the tarp away, looking at the children inside the cage, her eyes scanning them each before her eyes settled on Rin. Pulling the door almost off its hinges, she quickly reached out and removed the gag, pulling the ropes away from her wrists. "Rin! Oh thank the gods you are alright." She said, hugging her tight.

"Kusu, I was so scared." She sobbed into her shoulder.

"It's alright, it's over now. Help me free the others and we will head back to town."

Freeing the others, Kusu then threw the chained kidnappers into the same cage and everyone found somewhere to sit on the cart as Kusu turned them back towards Dryshore. They pulled the cart to a stop at the local enforcement department and Kusu climbed out, explaining what had happened before handing over the men from the cage.

Four families who feared they had lost their children were soon reunited with their sons, Ralph's mother among them, who couldn't stop thanking the pair but as she went away, someone else hurried over, his hair messy from running. "Kusu, Rin! What happened? I headed back as soon as I got your message!"

Rin winced a little; she had forgotten her ring would send the message to Tarn as well. "It's alright Tarn." Kusu explained. "Rin was very brave and very clever. I would still be following a defected pointer if it wasn't for her."

Tarn gave a relieved sigh. "I'm so glad everything is okay." He smiled at them both. "Good work, both of you. Now why don't we go home?"

"I agree, I think Rin and I have had enough excitement for the day." The demoness sighed, running a hand back in her loose hair. "And I need a shower."

Tarn nodded, holding out his hand for Rin to take as they began to walk back to the shop. "Oh, and about the work you two did today? I think it is only fair you get the payment, fifty-fifty."

"For a simple searcher?" Kusu said, confused. "That won't be much Tarn, we normally only charge 75 frabsi."

The man looked at her and smiled. "Kusu, you and Rin stopped a smuggling ring and brought two dangerous kidnappers to justice. The reward for that will be… at least a thousand!"

The green haired demoness blinked at the realisation. "Well… that will pay for a new dress."


	6. Part 2: Eschete Chapter 3

**Part 2: Eschete (11 Years old – April) Chapter 3  
**

Rin smiled as she reached down to the bottom of the massive crate and pulled out the last of the delivery, placing the dried flowers on the counter as she looked over the rest of the new arrivals. She felt a pride in her hard work but then turned as the shop bell called out. "Good afternoon." She said, turning to the new arrival.

He was a demon with a long bushy purple beard and a small patch of matching hair on his head, his clothes black and lined with gold thread and only just fitting around his potbelly. In his hand was a long gold topped cane with a black stick at the bottom and on each finger were several rings, his eyes a dark pink colour that narrowed sharply on the girl. "You. Leave."

She blinked and looked over at him. "Sorry sir?"

"I said leave." He growled towards her, stepping to the side to look over the objects for sale.

Following him, the girl shook her head a little. "I'm sorry sir but… I work here."

The eyes widened suddenly and his hand came down on her cheek faster than she had chance to register it. She span at the strike and landed hard on the floor, collapsing against the crate and holding her face with a small sob. The demon pointed his cane at her and for a moment she fear he was going to hit her again but instead he just poked her with it. "Filthy creatures like you should know better than speaking to my kind. And the audacity to lie to me!" He poked her in the stomach with the base of his cane. "There is no way Master Tarn would lower himself to employ a creature of your standing."

If Rin hadn't been fighting back tears from being hit and poked, she would have fought back over the insults but she was in too much pain to think clearly right then.

Luckily at that moment, Tarn came walking in from the back door and looked at the scene before them. "What is going on here Lord Roosevelt?"

"Ah, Tarn!" He said, pulling his jacket down. "Good to see you again. Now, if you will get this creature to leave, I have some business to discuss with you."

Tarn glared at the fat demon. "If you have business with me then you can speak about it before my staff."

"Staff? You mean this… _thing_ is in your employment?"

"Yes, _Rin_ is in my employment, Roosevelt. Not all demons hold your outdated belief that humans are subservient to our kind. Now, what is your business with me?"

Glancing at Rin who had slowly made her way to Tarn's side, the lord huffed. "You may be comfortable breathing in the same air as a human but I am not. Send it away or I will take my business elsewhere and you will never see me again."

Rin lowered her gaze a little to the floor. "Master, I'll leave."

"You will not take a step Rin." Tarn hissed, his eyes still locked on the other demon. "If Lord Roosevelt would like to do business he will speak to me and you. If not, he is free to leave. It is his choice."

The standoff continued for a bit before larger man huffed and turned, storming out of the shop and slamming the door behind him. Once he was gone, Tarn growled. "Dick." He cursed then turned to Rin, kneeling beside her and looking at her face, gently stroking her red cheek. "Oh Rin." He cooed as he saw how raw it was.

She sniffed and looked down slightly. "It doesn't hurt."

"It never should have happened, Lord Roosevelt thinks humans are an inferior race. A backwards stupid way of thinking." He sighed, standing up and walking to the side, picking up a potion from the shop and took it over to her. He knelt beside her and poured some onto his handkerchief then wiped it over her cheek. After a few moments, the redness went down and the pain faded.

Tarn smiled at her and tapped her nose. "There, all better. Now, shall we finish cleaning up?"

With a smile, they got back to work, tidying up from the delivery earlier. As they moved the large crate to the store room, Rin bit her lip. "Master Tarn? You know you are always asking me if I am happy here?"

"Yes?" He said, putting the box down.

"And you tell me I can stay here as long as I want?"

"Yes?" Tarn continued, curious to where this conversation was going.

Rin looked softly at him. "Well… can I stay until I die?"

"Of course you can Rin. You can stay as long as you wish." He glanced over at the 11 year old. "But then again, I don't think you will want to stay with me forever. You humans can live for up to 80 or 90 years. You don't know, you might fall in love and want to move out."

Rin scrunched up her nose at the idea. "Eww! As if!" She chuckled. "I'm going to stay with you forever!"

Tarn smiled and ran a hand back in her hair. "Very well. But for now, keep working."

* * *

**A/N: So another month has passed for our little family in Dryshore. Rin has had a trip to the capital, got herself a Hinsu ring (think magic mobile phone), she was kidnapped and almost sold into slavery… or for dinner and it turns out that Kusu is pretty bad ass! And finally we discover that not all demons have a high view of humans… but Master Tarn will have nothing to do with them!**

**So hope you liked the chapters! PLEASE review! It's been so long since I had some reviews... I almost forgot how good it felt to receive them. Shout out to Mangagirl4 for hers! Thanks darling! **

**Also, if anyone can think of a better summery, please let me know! The current one is TERRIBLE! **


	7. Part 3: Tallarico Chapter 1

**Part 3: Tallarico (12 Years old – May) Chapter 1**

Tarn purred happily as he licked his lips and fingers of the last bits of chocolate powder, the only evidence of his midnight snack down in the kitchen, walking up the stairs as lightly as he could, making sure to keep a close eye on the door right in front of him. Luckily, the light from inside stayed off, meaning Kusu was still asleep but oddly the room next door still had a glow from within.

Stepping over, he pushed Rin's door a little and peaked inside, spotting her sitting in bed with a table lamp, three books on her bed while another was in her hands as she scanned the text.

She didn't notice him watching her so he cleared his voice and caught her eye, stepping fully into the room. She smiled sweetly at him as he stepped in and closed the door behind him. "Evening master Tarn."

"Rin, do you know what time it is?" He asked folding his arms as he leant on the doorframe.

The young girl glanced at the clock on her bedside table and gave a small shrug. "It's not _that_ late."

"My dear, even I am going to bed." He chuckled, walking over and picking up the books. "Now, books away and go to sleep. Kusu would be furious if she found out you stayed up so late."

Pouting as he closed the books and made a pile on the floor, Rin clung to the last one. "But there is so much to learn."

"Rin." Tarn said with a slight warning to his tone. "There is plenty of time for you to learn." He reached out for the book in her hands. "You as still a growing girl and you need your sleep."

With a groan, she released the book and looked at the owner of the home she now shared. "Master Tarn… how many Satremon have you helped?"

He paused and thought about the question. "I have had…" He hummed, trying to count them all quickly. "23 Satremons. You are number 24."

"And Satremon is celebrated every 50 years, right?"

"Yes."

"So… 24 Satremons… one every 50 years… means you are… 1200 years old?"

Tarn smirked at her. "Actually, I'm 1,351 years old. There were a few years I was too young or not able to look after a Satremon. I would still celebrate it but I wasn't able to look after them like I can you."

"1,351 years old? Wow, you're old."

"Less of the 'old' young lady. I'm still quite young for a demon."

Looking over him, Rin couldn't help but frown, confused by something. "How come you are much older than Kusu… and yet she looks older than you."

Sitting on the side of her bed, Tarn nodded. "Ah, that is a good question." He smiled and held up a finger, preparing to go into 'teacher' format. "You see, with many demons, your magical power can help preserve the body, meaning a very old demon can look young if he is magically strong enough."

"But Kusu is strong as well? Isn't she?"

"I wouldn't want to comment on her strength." Tarn chuckled. "But the rule doesn't work for everyone."

"Why not?"

"Honestly Rin, no one knows for sure. But some believe it is to do with how time moves here. After all, even if three months has passed for us, you have aged as if three years have gone by but it happens so gradually you don't even notice it."

She hummed and thought about what he said. "It doesn't feel like three months. It really feels like three years."

"No, it doesn't feel like months. And you have learnt as if you have spent years studying." He agreed then grinned. "You know, by the new year, you will be 20 years old. Imagine that, you 20."

Rin's smile disappeared and she looked at her bedding, shaking her head lightly. "I'll be dead before then."

Freezing, the demon looked at her before reaching out for her cheek. "I promise, you will see spring Rin. I promised you I would find a way to break this curse and I will." He moved his hand, stroking her hair back over her ear softly. "I don't break my promises. There is still time."

They looked at each other, one doubtful, the other hopeful before Tarn let out a deep sigh and sat up straighter. "Now, come on, go to sleep. And I mean sleep. Don't make me take your books away."

"You wouldn't."

He gave her a smirk. "Oh I would. So don't push me young lady."

"You take my books and I will tell Kusu you were downstairs having another slice of chocolate cake." She countered, grinning as she brushed some crumbs from the small patch of hair on his chin.

His jaw dropped as he wiped away the mess. "Blackmail!" He gasped dramatically then chuckled. "Alright, keep your books, but lights out. It's time for you to sleep."

With a sigh, Rin conceded and allowed herself to lie down in the bed, settling in it, Tarn reaching over to tuck her in, making sure she was asleep before turning the light off and leaving her room, heading for his own.

As he walked in and sat down on his bed, he glanced up at the wall above him where a collection of paintings, drawings and photos showed a range of people, both human and demons, and he smiled at all 23 of them.


	8. Part 3: Tallarico Chapter 2

**Part 3: Tallarico (12 Years old – May) Chapter 2**

Tarn loved to take Rin out for her lessons, saying she would learn more in the world than in the back of his shop. The only issue was that she couldn't use any of her powers outside since others would find out. But she could still learn by watching him at his trade. Whenever he was hired to find something or help someone who was sick, he would take Rin along with him and let her watch him.

One afternoon, after visiting a sick member of town, they stopped by a book shop to pick up a collection Tarn had ordered however, as they left, they bumped into another demon master that Tarn knew and the two began to talk and chat. Rin stood behind them, holding the heavy books as a good student or shop worker would but as she did, she felt something tug on the books.

Glancing down, she spotted a small black and white kitten playing with one of the tassels coming from the book, its attention locked on the golden treads. Eyes wide, the young girl looked at the master's back but he was so busy in conversation, he didn't even notice her. Slowly, she placed the books in her arms down on the floor and pulled out one of the ribbons, using it to tease and test the kitten, grinning as she did.

The kitten meowed as it was played with, catching the tassels in his claws and pulling on them, causing Rin to chuckle. Sitting down behind her master and petting the kitten, scratching behind its ears and under the chin, down its back and letting it rest in her lap, making cute awing sounds at its contact, playing with it happily.

"I believe your little shop keeper is getting distracted Tarn." A voice chuckled from above her.

The young girl blinked and looked up, seeing both the demons gazing down at her with broad smiles. She blushed and stood up, the kitten jumping from her lap as she did. "S-Sorry sir."

Tarn chuckled lightly and shook his head. "No, it's alright Rin. I sometimes forget you are still a child." He smiled, patting her on the head. "It's good to see you playing sometimes instead of just working."

"But I like working in the shop!" She insisted, worried he might stop her or stop teaching her.

"I know you do Rin. But you should have time to enjoy things." His eyes turned to the kitten that was still playing with the tassel from the book. "I think he might be a stray. If you wish, we can take it home with us."

"Would Kusu mind?"

"I don't think so. But why don't we find out. Pick it up and we will go and ask her."

With a grin, Rin picked up the little kitten, only then realising it had two different eyes, one green and one blue, cuddling it close with Tarn now carrying his books. He smiled to his friend and said goodbye before heading back to the Sapphire Ruin. "Kusu! We're back."

The green haired demoness looked at them both then blinked on seeing what Rin had in her hands. "Oh what a cute kitten!"

"Rin found it on the street. Figured it was a stray so brought it home." Tarn explained. "I hope you don't mind?"

"Mind? Of course not! Oh isn't he adorable! Such lovely eyes."

Rin grinned at the woman and nodded. "I promise I'll take good care of him."

"Alright. Well then, we should see if we can get this little fellow a drink."

For the next few days, Rin was distracted by the kitten which they named 'Little Buddy'. She would often be getting on with her work when Buddy would begin clawing at her leg and trying to get her attention which she would give happily. More than once Kusu or Tarn would come into the room and find her potion boiling over, a spell abandoned or some other task half completed while she sat on the floor with the kitten.

One day, as Rin went out to buy some supplies for Buddy, she passed a poster on the wall that was marking a lost kitten with one blue and one green eye, black and white fur and very young.

She swallowed and stepped over to look at it closer, checking the details. "Oh no." The picture was almost a perfect copy of the kitten she had back home. Slowly she picked up the poster and folded it into her pocket, quickly heading home and up to her room, hiding the paper under her pillow while Buddy was curled up asleep at the foot of her bed.

Reaching out, she stroked his head softly and pouted, wondering what to do now before being interrupted by a knock at the door. "C-come in."

Tarn peaked in softly. "Rin, are you alright? You came charging in so fast we thought something was wrong. I thought you went out to buy some food for Buddy."

Rin looked at him for a moment then swallowed, looking down at the kitten that had woken up and come over to her. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" The master asked, walking over and crouching down to her level. "I've known you long enough to know when there is something on your mind."

The girl looked at him then sighed, reaching under her pillow and passing the poster over. The demon looked over the image and details then the kitten and sighed. "Oh Rin."

"I don't know what to do."

"What do you mean?"

"He belongs to me now!" She called out. "I want to keep him!"

"Rin." He whispered in a soft sympathetic voice.

"They should have looked after him better! He was on the street! He shouldn't have been there."

"Rin, it says right here; he escaped from his home." He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. "Rin, you have to take him to his home. You know it's the right thing to do."

She lowered her head to the floor. "I… I guess…"

"I know it's hard kiddo but it has to be done."

"I don't want to." She sniffed and wiped her eye on her sleeve. "I want to keep him."

"Rin." He sighed, pulling her towards him and hugged her tight. "Come on, think about it… if you could remember your home, wouldn't you want to go back there?"

That made her pause and tears leaked down her cheeks as she rubbed her face into his shirt, sniffing while Buddy clawed at her side for her attention. Finally Tarn sighed and pushed her away. "Come on, it's going to be alright. If you want, we can take him back together."

"Can't we take him tomorrow?"

"The longer we wait, the harder it will be for you to say goodbye." He explained as he stood and reaching down for Buddy, picking him gently up and stroked his head. "Are you coming with me?"

With a deep sigh and a wipe of her eyes, she stood and nodded, taking Buddy from Tarn. "I'll carry him."

Nodding, Tarn followed her from the room and down stairs, passing Kusu as they did. "Is everything okay?" She asked as she paused in her work preparing dinner.

"Yes, we are just taking Buddy home." Tarn explained with a compassionate look.

Kusu blinked at the underlined meaning. "Oh Rin, I'm so sorry."

The twelve year old nodded softly. "He… he deserves to be with his family."

"Come on, we should go Rin."

With a nod, the two of them walked out of the shop and onto the street, Rin holding Buddy close, hugging him and playing with him while Tarn guided her the way to go. Finally, they arrived at a small house in the middle of a side street, away from the centre of town, looking up at a simple house with a small garden.

The two of them walked up to the front door and Tarn knocked, rubbing Rin's back in comfort as she hugged Buddy.

The door opened and a young girl with black hair, about 6 years old appeared, eyes going wide on seeing the little cat. "You found him!" She called out then turned to shout into the house. "MOM! MOM! Someone found Artemis!"

Another woman soon came out and gasped. "Oh my goodness! Thank you so much. We've been so worried about him." She waved her hand into the house. "Please, come in."

Tarn looked at his student who slowly made her way inside, guided to a large living room where a crate was to the side. As she got closer she saw an adult black and white cat inside with four other kittens, each one playing or drinking. The younger girl went over to it and pointed to each of the cats. "That's Artemis's mom, Saffie. And that's Argus, Comet, Sushi and Flora."

Rin looked down on the kittens before slowly lowering Buddy, or Artemis, down to them. Instantly Saffie was up and licking him and she smiled at the reunions.

The mother nodded to Tarn. "Thank you for bringing him home."

"It's alright miss." Tarn explained. "Just glad we could reunite the family."

"Please, let me get you something as a reward." She said, hurrying to find her purse, holding out a small wad of notes to him.

Tarn held up his hands at once, not touching the offered reward. "I didn't do any of the work. You should be thanking Rin, she found him and looked after him for the last few days before we saw your poster."

The mother nodded then turned to offer it to the girl, smiling. "Here you go young lady."

The 12 year old looked at the money then shook her head and turned her gaze to the floor. "No, I don't need a reward. He… he should be with his brothers and sisters. I just want him to be happy." She sniffed softly then walked towards the demon. "I wanna go home." She whispered.

With a nod, Tarn patted her on the shoulder and the two of them took their leave. As they walked down the street, Tarn sighed. "You did the right thing Rin. And besides, maybe when we break your curse, you can have a kitten of your own?"

"I don't want one now."

"Alright." He sighed then looked over the road. "How about we take some ice cream in for Kusu?"

That brought a small smile to her lips. "Can I have chocolate?"

"Sure. Come on."


	9. Part 3: Tallarico Chapter 3

**Part 3: Tallarico (12 Years old – May) Chapter 3**

Dryshore was a comfortable place to live but it wasn't crime free. Nowhere ever was. There were still pickpockets, break-ins and thieves. Almost being kidnapped and sold to a demon market, where she would have been eaten taught Rin this lesson very early in her time with Tarn and the Sapphire Rune.

Still, with two strong, talented and powerful demons in her home, Rin had little fear of criminals. Yet one night, as she slept in her room she suddenly heard a crash from downstairs and filled with a sudden fear as she sat up in bed and looked at her bedroom door.

As expected, a few seconds later, Kusu came running into the room, pulling her housecoat closer. "Rin, are you alright?"

"What happened?"

"I don't know but I don't want you left alone. Come on, get up." She held out her hand and Rin was quick to hurry to her side and hold it tight, leaving the bedroom to find Tarn stood at the top of the stairs. He looked worried as he tried to see what was going on below them.

"Someone is in the shop." He whispered as there was another crash from downstairs. "But I can't tell yet if it's a thief or a creature."

"What's the plan?"

"You stay with Rin Kusu. I don't want you to get hurt." He said, starting down the stairs slowly, his eyes narrowed in preparation of what was ahead.

The demoness looked at the child beside her as they waited for whatever was going on below. They stood in silence, tense, staring at the stairs, waiting for a moment. Finally there was a sudden yelp.

"AH DAM IT! OI! GET OUT OF MY SHOP CALSURN!"

Kusu let out a loud sigh. "Oh great, it's a Calsurn." She groaned, walking down the stairs.

"What's a Calsurn?" Rin asked as she followed.

"Rin, I'm a little ashamed you don't know." She hummed. "Calsurn are pests. Similar to mice or rats for humans but far more annoying. They are drawn to objects with magical powers."

"Like crystals?"

"One of their favourite things to eat." She huffed as they crossed the kitchen room below and went to the shop door. "Along with drinking my potions."

Tarn was in the middle of the shop, the floor covered with the remains of smashed bottles and crystals as well as a few other damaged items, the demon himself holding a broomstick like a club in his hands. "Watch your step ladies; there is glass on the floor."

Rin didn't really look at the glass, she was too busy looking around to spot the creature. It appeared to be a flying dark ball of shadows that Tarn was trying to hit with the broom. However, before he got too close, it would fly into the wall and become a flat shadow, unharmed by the attack.

Walking around the broken bottles, Kusu groaned to herself. "I hate these things."

"It's been years since we saw one."

"How do we catch it?" Rin asked as she watched it move. "It's so fast!"

"Tell about it." Tarn groaned as he watched the Calsurn fly from one part of the shop to another. The demon swung once more for it but missed again. "We need to get it in a Neptucophane."

"A… Nep… ture… wha?"

"In the store room, second chest on the right near the door. The one with the heart shaped lock? It looks like a wheel with seven spokes on it." Tarn explained, swinging for the pest once more while Kusu joined in with a mop.

Quickly the young human went back into the kitchen and to the store room, a place full of boxes and other things the group didn't need very often, as well as a full suit of armour that always gave Rin the creeps. But she concentrated on the task in front of her, finding the chest in question and pulled out the wheel like device, hurrying back to Kusu and Tarn. "I found it!"

"Great… now we need to get it into it." The master grumbled, trying to take it out with another swing.

"How do we do that?"

"These things… hate… light." Kusu said, trying to poke it with her mop. "They hide in shadows. We need to turn on all the lights, make it as bright as we can make it."

"On it!" Rin called as she hurried to the light switch and soon the room was filled with the glow from the electrics above them. Then she began to hurry around, touching crystals and making them glow brightly.

Sesshomaru gave her a smile as she worked. "Well done Rin. Now it doesn't have as many places to hide." He hummed, looking around. "Problem is, it's now hiding."

"How do we find it?"

"Look for anything with two shadows."

"Two shadows?"

"A Calsurn can make itself look like anything but it can't remove an existing shadow." Kusu explained, looking around carefully. Rin looked as well, checking over every item in the shop but with so many things and shadows, it was hard.

A sudden crash and one of the crystals went out as it was pushed off the edge of a shelf onto the floor. Protectively, Kusu pushed Rin back. "Careful Rin, you don't have any shoes on."

"There!" Tarn called, swinging his broom at the Calsurn just as it flew overhead and into the part where they sold books. "Dam it! Missed!"

Rin looked between the shelves then nodded. "I have an idea."

"What is it Rin?"

Placing the neptucophane on the floor by her feet, Rin knelt down and picked up a shard of broken crystal, using it to draw into the wood of the shop floor. Tarn glanced down to see what she was doing then frowned. "Rin, are you sure you are strong enough for that spell? It's very advance."

"I know sir." She promised as she began to recite the spell, closing her eyes as she did.

Tarn and Kusu also prepared for what was coming as they looked away from her work. Suddenly, the whole shop was filled with a bright white light that flooded every corner of the room, leaving no shadow for the Calsurn to hide in.

The only one left was the one the Rin was casting with the neptucophane but between being blinded by the light and being captured, the creature chose the shadow and the trap. Tarn spotted the wheel as it shifted, meaning something was inside and put a hand on Rin's. "That's enough, we caught it."

Rin let the spell fall and the room returned to normal, looking over at the master. "We got it?"

Tarn picked up the device and nodded. "Here it is. All trapped inside, can't do any harm in there."

"What will you do with it now?"

"Oh, it's a troublesome pest but not worth killing, it's only doing what comes naturally to it. No, I will take it far away from Dryshore and release it back into the wild where it won't bother anyone again." He smiled but then looked at the shop. "Oh my." There was very little that wasn't damaged or knocked over, the whole shop being a mess. "I guess we won't be able to open for business tomorrow."

"It's alright Tarn." Kusu said with a nod. "We can clean it up later. Right now, I think we all need a hot drink after all that excitement."

"Warm milk please!" Rin called with excitement.

"I'll have the same but add a drop of whiskey for me." Tarn sighed as he tried not to think about ruined stock, the mess and the hard work it would be to get the shop up and running again.

* * *

**A/N: I have had… the week from hell so please review. I need to know someone values my work. Because otherwise I'm doomed**


	10. Part 4: Kanbe Chapter 1

**A/N: Here it is everyone! The chapter you have been wanting! Sesshomaru is in the HOUSE!**

**Part 4: Kanbe (13 Years old - June) Chapter 1**

Even if time moved slowly, it still moved and Rin gradually changed; growing taller and more confident, her long silky black hair now down her back but she often had it tied back to keep it out of her way when working. Years of good food and a healthy environment meant she was gradually becoming a fine example of a teenager with her face as gentle as her soul and eyes as sharp as her mind.

Tarn and Kusu were unable to help themselves over the months but whenever they saw a dress, hair slides or necklace, they had to buy them for the girl before finding an excuse to give it to her. She ended up having a different dress and accessory for every day of the month.

Even with all the lovely outfits she had, Rin had developed her own style of what she preferred to wear, a short dress in a dark earthy tone with a cover shoulders and long fingerless gloves, her hair tied back simply but if Kusu could get hold of her early enough, she would plait and braid her hair, much to Rin's annoyance.

Rin was still learning her trade with Tarn and Kusu, being allowed to learn spells as well as how to make potions that were sold in the shop, meaning she was earning a lot more frabsi that she used to buy her own books and things she wanted for herself. Sometimes she returned the kindness of the demons and would buy gifts for Tarn and Kusu.

One evening, as the trio sat together enjoying their dinner, there was an unexpected knock at the door that lead to the back garden of the shop. The trio looked at each other, surprised but before any of them could move, the door opened and another demon walked in, a large bag by his side and his clothes clearly dirty from travel. "I didn't expect you to close the shop so early master."

Rin, sat at the table, looked the demon over with confusion. He looked like a young adult but she knew not to trust a demon's appearance over his age. His eyes were a bright golden colour and his hair a regal silver, loose and long down his back to the middle of his spine, an unusual style for demons who normally kept their hair short or at least tied back. His skin was pale, basically white but there was something about him that made her worry.

Kusu and Tarn however both stood to greet him, Tarn holding out his hand. "Sesshomaru, you're back." He said cheerfully. "You should have told me, I would have come to meet you."

"It was a sudden decision master. Besides, you never read your post."

Tarn nodded. "That is true. Well it's good to have you home. Have you eaten? I'm sure Kusu will be able to fix something up for you."

"I would appreciate it master." Sesshomaru said, walking forwards to look at the room before his eyes locked on Rin. "Master, why is there a human at the table?"

"Sesshomaru, this is Rin. She's my other student. Rin, this is Sesshomaru."

She nodded to the demon. "It… it's nice to meet you Sesshomaru."

The demon sneered at her then looked at the blue haired male. "I always questioned your sanity Tarn but to take a human as your student?" His voice was almost a growl at the next words. "Now I know you have lost your mind."

"Now, no need to be rude." The demon nodded. "This girl is talented. After all, humans shouldn't be able to use our magic and yet Rin can."

His golden eyes turned back to her. "Is that so? Well then… prove it."

"What?" Rin gulped, not ready for such a statement.

"Prove that a human can use our magic. Prove you should be a student."

"L…Like what?"

"I don't know or care. Just do something."

She glanced over at Tarn and Kusu for ideas, but they just stood with neutral expressions, as if wanting her to prove herself as well. She swallowed before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small piece of chalk, drawing a strange yet simple design on the table. Once it was done, she checked it was right, since one mistake could ruin it.

Sure it was ready, she held her hand over it and slowly began to mumble the matching enchantment, the white chalk glowing pink before the plates, books and anything else on the table began to levitate off the wood. After a few seconds, Rin stopped and let out a breath, looking to the demon.

He glared at her before reached over and placed his hand over the chalk, wiping it away before pushing past her and heading for upstairs. "I'll take my meal in my room." He huffed.

Once alone, Tarn couldn't help but chuckle. "Well, I think you proved it to him."

Rin turned to him and shook her head. "I don't understand. You never told me you had another student."

"Sesshomaru has been my student for about 200 years now. He left to explore and to hone his fighting skills about 5 years before you arrived. I didn't expect him to return, ever. But since I never released him, he is still technically my student. I still have a lot to teach him."

"But you never mentioned him. In all the time I've been here?"

"Rin, I have had over 30 students over my time as a master. Sesshomaru is just one from a very long list. But you…" He said, stepping over and putting his hand on her shoulder. "You are special Rin. I didn't see a reason to mention Sesshomaru, I didn't even know if he would come back. He's always been hot headed and said he could do better than me for a master. But compared to you Rin?" He looked at the remains of the chalk. "You have only been learning spells a few weeks and you have already memorised the levitation spell? I'm incredibly impressed."

She looked at him with a smile. "So… now what?"

"There is no law to say I can't have two students at once. Some masters have seven or ten at the same time so if Sesshomaru wants to remain my student then I will teach you both. Even with his years of experience, you and Sesshomaru are almost at the same level. I can teach you both at the same time."

"He didn't seem to like the fact that I'm human very much."

"Sesshomaru has never liked humans. But he will have to get used to you because you are not going anywhere." He smiled, reaching out and lifting her head to face him. "Besides, I still need to break your curse and let you see the snowfall."

She smiled at the kindness of his words before smiling and taking her leave, heading for the staircase to go up to her room. She wasn't surprised to see the demon waiting for her by her door. "You don't belong here." He huffed. "A human has no right to learn demonic magic."

Rin looked at him before deciding not to engage with him, walking for her door and pushing it open.

Sesshomaru growled, grabbing her arm and making her turn to face him. "Hey, listen to me when I am speaking."

Holding his wrist as it held her arm, she tried to get it off her but he was much stronger than her. "Let go of me!" She finally snapped.

But he kept his grip tight on her arm, pulling her towards him, towering over the 13 year old. "You don't belong here. You should leave before you damage Master Tarn's reputation."

"He chose to teach me."

"Then you should have refused." He growled back at her. "You should leave and go back to your own world."

"I can't." She snapped at him, still trying to get free. "If I return to the human world I'll die!"

"What do you mean you idiot?"

"There is a curse on me. And if I go back to the human world, I'll die." She let out a slow exhale. "I have to stay here and like it or not, this place is my home now."

"This is not your home. It will never be your home." He huffed, finally releasing her and pushing her backwards into the doorframe. "And I will make you see that it isn't." With that, he turned and headed down the hallway to the room next to Tarn's, a room Rin had always assumed was a guest bedroom but now she could see it was Sesshomaru's. He stormed over to it and slammed the door behind him.

Left alone, Rin sighed and entered her own room, closing the door softly as she went over to her bed and sat down on it, determined not to let the other student get to her.


	11. Part 4: Kanbe Chapter 2

**Part 4: Kanbe (13 Years old - June) Chapter 2**

A few days passed since Sesshomaru returned and while Tarn tried to treat both of them the same, it was clear there was a favourite between the two students and it wasn't the demon.

Regularly, Tarn would assign the two of them the same task, getting them to brew, create or do something and then judge the two. While both were done to a high standard, Rin was often better.

It was clear that his jealousy towards the girl was growing but he kept it under control.

One afternoon, while Rin was manning the store, the bell rang out and a human with brown hair in a neat green messenger's uniform came in, nodding to her. "Is Master Tarnanok available?" He asked softly.

"He is sir."

"Please give him this at once." He said, passing over a blue envelope. "It is of vital importance."

"At once sir."

Task complete, the man turned and left the shop while Rin headed to the back where Kusu was cooking and Sesshomaru was brewing something. Tarn was also in the room, working hard as he made notes in a book. "Master Tarn? A letter just arrived for you." She said softly.

"Just put it on the side." The master told her, not looking up from his work.

"He said it was urgent." Rin confirmed, stepping over and holding it towards him.

Finally he looked up and once he saw the envelope, he stood up completely. "Oh." He said, taking it and reading the letter inside and once he had he turned to Kusu. "I need to leave at once. Can you get Reaver for me?"

"Is everything alright sir?" Rin asked as both he and Kusu hurried around, preparing a bag.

Tarn paused and turned to her. "That letter is an order for me to take out a demon that has been causing trouble in the area." He explained with a sigh. "I'm to join three others at the town square at once."

"Is it dangerous?" The young teen asked, worried.

"Yes but I'll be careful, don't worry." He smiled at her as Kusu passed him a long thin object wrapped in a cloth.

Sesshomaru nodded as the master pulled on a long coat. "How long do you think it will take?"

"A few days, maybe longer." He glanced between the two students then nodded. "I'm leaving Kusu in charge. While I am gone, I want the two of you to keep the shop going but no more. If you run out of something, take an order and we will deliver once I return." His eyes hardened a bit on them. "No magic without my supervision. Understood?"

"Yes master." The two chorused.

He pointed at them both in turn. "I mean it! There will be trouble if I return and find out either of you have disobeyed me."

"We understand Master." Rin promised, stepping aside as he packed the last bits he needed. "Just be careful."

"I'll return in a few days Rin, don't worry and behave yourself." He patted her gently on the head and walked out to the front of the shop.

Once he was gone, a silence fell the room that was only broken by Kusu's laughter. "Well, it's been a while since Tarn received a call to arms. And I know I always worry about him when he's gone." She sighed then smiled. "So, how about we close the shop early and go out for some supper?"

Rin smiled at the idea. "That does sound like a good idea."

"I will do the restock, you two clean up." The green haired demoness said as she got to work. Sesshomaru and Rin took a little longer to return to the tasks assigned to them but eventually began to clean and tidy up.

The human watched the demon, noticing how his eyes were narrow in thought. "Will he be alright?" She finally asked to break the silence.

"Dealing with rogue demons is part of his job as a Master." Sesshomaru grumbled. "As it is for all students of magic." His gaze turned to her. "If you ever went against one, you would be dead in a few minutes."

Rin just glared at him then returned to her work. "You demons aren't that tough."

"What did you say?" He growled from across the room.

"I said I'm not scared of demons like you."

"Well you should be."

She turned back to face him, ready to return the argument but she suddenly found herself face to face with the golden eyed demon as he pushed her back against the wall and gripped her around the neck.

She gasped at his grip and the pain against her back but Sesshomaru showed no sign of letting go or caring about her discomfort. "We demons are faster, stronger and better in every way compared to you humans. You may outnumber us but you will always be _less_."

Rin struggled a bit under his grasp and groaned at the pain before glaring up at him. "Humans are just as strong as demons."

His grip increased around her neck, starting to cut off her air. "Really? Then prove it."

"That is enough!" Kusu shouted as she came back into the back room and saw the scene.

Sesshomaru turned away at once, releasing Rin. "I didn't hurt her." He huffed.

Kusu stepped over to the girl and checked her over. "Are you alright Rin?"

"I'm fine." She mumbled, rubbing where he had grabbed her.

"What has gotten into you Sesshomaru?" The housekeeper snapped.

"I don't agree with a human being taught our skills."

"And as Tarn keeps telling you, you will have to get used to her. And you will learn to control your temper."

The student glared at her. "I'll be in my room."

"Oh no you don't." The other said, walking over to block his path up to the stairs. "You are coming to dinner with us."

"I'm not hungry."

"You are coming with us and that is an order." She huffed. "Now, you will go to your room but only to change and make yourself presentable." She then side stepped and pointed to the stairs, watching as the demon stalked off. Once alone, Kusu looked over Rin who was in her normal clothes which were a little dirty and unsuitable for anywhere but the shop. "Rin, you should go change too."

"Alright Kusu." After a moment, Rin headed up to her room.

It was a lot more personalised now; Tarn had fitted a couple of shelves so she could keep crystals and other mementos, there was a bookshelf on one side, filled with her own personal collections that she had brought over the years. Beside the bed, the main feature of the room was a large wardrobe that held her clothes. Kusu and Tarn still had a habit of buying her long fancy dresses with ribbons and lace that were very impractical for her work.

Now, since they were going out, she changed into a light blue dress with short sleeves and a loose design, since it was soon going to be summer in the demon world and the air often became clammy and hot. Once changed, she let her hair down and fitted a false flower into it before heading to join Kusu.

Kusu had removed her apron and freshened up her own clothing, and there was a flora smell around her now but she hadn't changed her clothes, not that she needed to; Kusu always had an air of formality and grace about her no matter what she was doing or wearing.

She smiled at Rin then went over to the stairs. "We are waiting for you Sesshomaru. Don't make me come up there."

It was a few minutes later but finally they heard someone coming down the stairs and Sesshomaru returned, his hair now brushed smooth back, his shirt a black one against the dark green suit jacket that he pulled over it.

Kusu rolled her eyes at him. "You still can't help dressing up."

"I have a pride in my appearance." The demon said with a huff, looking at Rin. "Something I see _you_ do not."

"Why you…"

"You have dirt on your nose."

Rubbing her nose quickly, Rin tried to remove it but Kusu put a hand on her shoulder. "You look lovely Rin, never mind what Sesshomaru says. Now, both of you, let's go."

The trio walked slowly out of the shop and into the street, heading down the road into the main part of town and found a restaurant for them to enjoy a meal at. After they sat and had ordered their drinks, Rin looked over at Kusu and sighed. "So… Master Tarn has been called to fight a rogue demon?"

"It happens every now and then." Kusu explained as she sipped her drink and browsed the menu. "Not all demons are civilised like us."

"And they have to be disposed of."

"Some demons spend all their time training in ways especially designed to prepare them for dealing with them."

Sesshomaru nodded. "Like myself. I spent the last 5 years learning sword work and fighting."

"Ah so that's where you went." Kusu hummed. "You never said where you were going."

"If I intend to protect those who can't protect themselves, I needed to learn and Master Tarn was never going to teach me."

"He doesn't have the time to teach sword and potions." Kusu explained.

The demon huffed into his drink. "So he kept telling me."

"But will he be alright?"

"Tarn is a good fighter but he mainly goes to protect the others of the team and to help find the prey."

"I see." Rin pondered.

Kusu looked at the girl then patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry Rin, he will be fine. Just try and enjoy the dinner."

The meal itself was quite enjoyable even if Sesshomaru did take every chance to insult the human at the table, saying she had horrific manners and no grace, but overall they had a good meal before heading home.

A few days later, Tarn did return and told them all about his mission, about the demon he'd had to track down and kill, about how he'd accidently given one of the team a scent enhancer instead of masker, which led to another story of madness and confusion that had the whole table laughing but Rin was just glad to have him home.


	12. Part 4: Kanbe Chapter 3

**Part 4: Kanbe (13 Years old - June) Chapter 3**

Rin couldn't help but look up from her books as she heard the clatter of glasses hitting each other, while she was trying to read her book. Her gaze fell on Master Tarn grunting as he messed around with the vials around him, mumbling under his breath.

As he stormed out into the study, Rin looked over the demoness beside her. "Kusu? Is Master Tarn alright?"

The demoness sighed. "No Rin, he isn't alright. It's been announced that a Risuin has been caught in the area and a Challenge has been announced."

"Challenge?"

"Yes. You see, Risuin blood is very rare and vital for a lot of potions. So when one is caught, there is a… sort of game to decide its fate."

"They have been hunted to near extinction because of their blood." Tarn growled as he came back in and looked over at them. "Their blood might be vital but it's not worth almost killing their whole species." He huffed, anger clearly in his whole body but then he calmed a little and turned to Rin. "You see Rin, a few thousand years ago you couldn't go anywhere without coming across a Risuin, they were all over the place. Their blood is so useful that people began to hunt them down and kill them, since killing one gives enough blood for a thousand potions. But they soon realised they getting harder to find and being hunted to extinction so they tried to just capture and take blood samples, leaving the creatures alive."

"But the demand was too great. That method gave enough for three or four hundred potions." Kusu continued. "So, there was a great big argument years ago about what to do. The result was a Challenge."

"Whenever a Risuin is caught, the nearest town get to decide its fate by putting the creature at the end of this… trial like contraction and everyone gets to pick a team." The demoness sighed. "And the first member of a team to reach the Risuin gets to decide its fate."

"And the 'kill' team have won more times than I would care to think." Tarn huffed. "And worse, I can't take part."

"Why not?"

"The council forbid masters from taking part in Challenges."

"But not me."

They all looked up as Sesshomaru stepped into the room, a red ribbon pinned to his jacket. Tarn gave a sharp growl at him as he walked over to get himself a drink. "I should have known you would sign up Sesshomaru."

"Risuin blood is too valuable to let it slip through our fingers." He huffed while messing with the ribbon. "It is my choice to register."

Tarn glared at him. "You would kill an innocent creature just for a few potions?"

"Yes I would."

"I'm disappointed in you Sesshomaru." He sighed then shook his head and went back to his work and mumbling.

The young demon didn't appear bothered by the dismissal and went to head upstairs, giving Rin a glare as he passed her. The human glared back but then turned to Kusu. "Can anyone enter the Challenge? Or only demons?"

"No, humans can enter too but in all the Challenges I have seen, a demon has won every time. Its very hard on the body."

"How many have been saved?"

The demoness looked down at the book between them. "I've seen 6 hunts… and the creature has been spared only once."

"That's so sad." The girl sighed, going back to her studies but she did look up a few times to see Tarn's distressed face.

The next few days passed in a cold way; Tarn unable to control his anger over the Challenge and Sesshomaru wearing his red ribbon proudly every day. Rin did ask Kusu why she hadn't signed up to save the Risuin, but the demoness explained how she had a few years ago and been injured in it, so didn't feel strong enough to have another go.

All throughout town, whenever Rin went out shopping, she would see people sporting red or white ribbons, the number of red far greater than white. The tension between the people of Dryshore was becoming clear as the space near the edge of town turn into a buzz of activity as two large wooden contraptions were constructed in just a few days, both ending on a single large pillar.

Several stands were set up around the devices and on the day of the Challenge, the whole of Dryshore shut down and the people gathered either in the stands or at the starting points of the two Challenges.

Tarn glared angrily at the whole display, looking up to the small box at the top of the post, a slight glow coming from inside it. "I don't like this Kusu." He said to the demoness. "I don't know why we came here. We know that poor thing will be killed."

The demoness held his hand comfortingly. "You should be here in case someone gets hurt. And who knows, maybe things will be different this time."

The demon sighed again, not convinced as he watched the marshals explain the rules to both teams. Once that was done, he held up his hand then threw a crystal to the ground that smashed with a loud gunshot like explosion. And with a cheer from the people watching, the Challenge began, many of the younger head strong demons charging forwards and tripping over each other or over the ramp. The marshals were soon blowing whistles and tapping them out, disqualifying any who fell.

Within two minutes of starting, at least 15 of the 'kill' team had been knocked out.

Tarn watched carefully as he saw his student gradually working his way to the front but still keeping away from any groups, calmly walking up the ramp and was now faced with 20 planks of wood that were moving left and right, in rough jerky movements while making it even harder, overhead swung large dulled wooden poles that were made to block the path and knock off those trying to pass.

The first part to the challenge claimed several more entrants, knocking them off or making them loose balance, throwing them to the dirt below. The few that did make it past were allowed to rest on a small still platform that also allowed them to look at the next section, a twisting path of more planks but this time they seesawed at a certain point while above was a single large platform that forced the entrant to keep hunched over the whole time.

From the stands, the master couldn't watch anymore as he saw Sesshomaru working his way slowly across and turned to the other team before gasping loudly and standing up. "Rin!" He shouted out but was drowned out by the crowds.

Across the space on the 'save' team, making her way across the swinging blocks was his student, her hair tied up with a white ribbon. She was almost at the platform at the end of the first section, further than anyone else and almost equal with the other team, her eyes hard with concentration. Tarn frowned as he watched her then turned to Kusu who was now stood beside him. "The little… did you know she was going to enter?"

"No, she said she needed to do something before the Challenge started but I thought she was going to buy some sweets! I had no idea what she was doing!"

Tarn growled softly as he watched, concentrating on Rin as she made her way between the swinging poles and onto the platforms. "She's cheating."

"What?"

"Watch her. She's speaking an enchantment." He mumbled, looking to the sides where the marshals were helping those that had fallen and making sure they didn't try again, while also looking for anyone that may have been cheating.

But as only demons could use magic, not one of them was watching Rin close enough to notice what she was doing.

As she finally got to the platform, she stopped and looked onwards to the end of the race, looking at the cage on top of the pillar, hanging to the edge by a chain. With a determined frown, she continued the enchantment to keep her balance, taking the next step and listening as crowds cheered as she continued onwards, a young human girl making it further than many of the demons.

The roof on the seesaws was not as much of a challenge to her, due to her size, but at one point the movement caught her off guard and she slipped. Before she could hit the floor she grabbed the wood, ignoring how the rough surface dug into her skin.

But once the movement stopped she pulled herself back up and moved onwards, making it to the next rest platform. Panting hard, Rin looked at her hands and winced at the pain from her trip but then glanced at the stands, spotting her master and the house keeper stood watching her carefully. She smiled to them and gave an almost cheeky wave before turning her back on them and looked onwards.

The next part was a collection of small platforms like before but these ones fortunately didn't move and didn't have a roof, but were small, barely big enough for a person to stand on and were of various heights, going up and down irregularly. Some of them she knew she would need to jump to reach but as she stood, trying to plot a safe route, she heard a cheer and glanced to the other team, spotting a familiar shape that had made it to the second platform like herself.

Sesshomaru looked over at her and even across the space she could tell he was furious at her entering but then was quick to move on to the steps.

Determined not to be beaten, least of all by him, she continued onwards, stepping onto the first platform and glad to find it steady. This part wasn't about speed or timing, it was about planning and steady steps. Continuing with the enchantment to help her balance, she moved on to the next one, a little higher than the last. Then she stepped onto one behind her, moving sideways to keep on the same level.

She blocked out the sounds of the people and the thoughts of Sesshomaru on the other side making the same moves as she was, she just concentrated on going from one platform to the next, slowly moving onwards through her twisted and strange path.

At one point she was faced with a platform almost as tall as she was but, carefully, she reached up, grabbed hold and pulled herself up, whimpering at the effort it took but a fire burned inside her and she carried on. When she finally got to the next rest platform, she had to stop, lying on her back, exhausted from the effort it had taken to get this far.

She knew this was going to be a challenge, this was designed to be hard for demons and, even with her magic, she was just a human. She didn't have the strength and stamina that they did. But, as she looked up, she saw the cage, closer now but still a fair bit away. She glanced back the way she had come but no one else followed her. She was alone on the Challenge. The last one standing.

After a moment, she finally got back up, listening to the cheers at her effort to continue and she faced the next challenge, a single thin beam that stretched onwards while flat shields moved back and forth against it to knock her down.

Renewing the balance enchantment, she stepped onto it, arms spread to the side to assist her, placing one foot carefully in front of the other, measuring each move she made. She stopped on the beam as she got close to the first shield, watching its movements then moved onwards, passing it and stopping at the next one, repeating it over and over.

Just as she was about to get to the end, there was a loud disappointed sound from the crowd and she almost lost her balance at the sudden noise but kept her eyes firmly on the beam and where she was going, tiptoeing closer to the end. Four more shields between her and the next platform.

One of the shields clipped her side as she wasn't fast enough to pass it but the enchantment kept her feet clearly on the floor and the sounds of horror covered her saying it louder. With no other contestants, the marshals were paying full attention to her now so she had to be even more cautious but the cheer was worth it when she made it to the final platform and even raised her hands in victory as she looked to the crowds, many of them, Tarn and Kusu included, cheering and clapping for her.

Now that she was safe, she glanced over to the other team to check on Sesshomaru's progress but he wasn't there. She looked around the edges and saw him fuming and nursing his left arm. Guessing that was what the sudden disappointed noise had been, him falling, she saw the next demon on the other side was only just in the middle of the seesaw part. She had a good lead and had already beaten Sesshomaru.

Only one parts faced her now, a short but near vertical ramp with a surface that was designed to make her slip, a small airbag under it to break her fall should she fail. There were no hand holds or ways to grip it, it was just a ramp.

"Come on!"

"You can do it!"

The crowds were cheering for her now, their voices mixed and distorted but the message was clear. She had to try. With a deep breath, she stepped as far back as the platform would allow her then charged forwards and jumped, her foot slipping on the surface but as she pushed down with her other, she found some purchase, a small bump in the ramp. If it was an accident or on purpose she didn't know but it was enough and she used it to push herself up, her hand catching on to the lip of the final platform, leaving her dangling by one hand. Her arm burned as she tried to hold herself up, trying to stop herself from falling. She was so tired, she was tempted to just give up but the life of the Risuin and the gloating power over Sesshomaru gave her a third wind and she pulled, somehow getting her second hand up and from there, pulled herself up, nearly screaming at the effort it took.

But she managed to get to the top, dragging herself over the edge and lay on her face before rolling over and looking up at the cage. Gradually, she got to her feet and reached out, carefully picking up the cage and looking at what was inside.

The creature was small, no bigger than a kitten with bright pink eyes and a green patterned body that was clearly meant for camouflage, while out of its back were two feathery wings that it flared wide as it looked at her.

Grinning, the child reached for the small lock and undid it, opening the door and smiled. "Hey there. Don't worry, it's okay, you're free." She explained, holding her hand out for it.

A small sniff and it stepped over, climbing into her hand, purring as it did. Smiling, Rin reached up to her hair and undid the white ribbon she had been wearing and with one hand, tied it around the creature's neck loosely. "There." She said, looking at its bright eyes. "Now everyone will know you are free to live."

The Risuin stared at her then looked down at the hands she was holding it in, wings beating slowly so it was flying before her and slowly licked at her wounds.

Almost instantly, Rin began to feel better, her hands hurt less and as she watched, her cuts and grazes healed. She gave a small laugh at it before looking at the creature. "Thank you."

With a blink, it took to the air and within moments, flew off out of sight.

Alone, Rin looked around the platform and the pole, wondering how to get down before hearing someone shouting her name. Looking down she saw Tarn at the base, his arms wide. "Jump! I'll catch you!"

Half wondering if he was serious, she took a moment then sat on the edge before pushing off in a jump, falling rapidly down to her mentor but soon felt his arms around her, laughing as he hugged her tight. "Rin you did it!" He laughed in her ear before pushing her back. "I'm still mad at you for entering without my permission but you did it! You saved the Risuin!"

Kusu was also beside them, nodding happily. "Rin, I'm so proud of you!"

"Thank you Kusu. I'm sorry for not telling you."

Tarn smiled as he rubbed her hair affectionately. "Rin, I'll forgive you for saving that poor thing's life."

* * *

**A/N: Well, I hope you like this chapter! Oh and a shout out to (so far) my only reviewers on this story; Mangagirl4 and ****Squishyrabbit. I would love to reply to them but for some reason, Fan Fiction won't let me?! Please don't take it personaly! I would if I could! anyway, hope you liked the chapters!  
**


	13. Part 5: Engin Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey Everyone! Another part of the story! Hope you like it and don't forget to review! **

**Part 5: Engin (14 Years old - July) Chapter 1**

"This is bad." Tarn muttered as he read the letter in his hands. "This is very, very bad."

"What is it Tarn?" Kusu asked as she turned to him from her work.

A few minutes ago, a messenger had arrived with a letter in a golden envelope, addressed to the master and like when he saw the blue one a few months ago, he read it instantly and his eyes went wide, his mouth dropped in shock. Finally he blinked, straightened the paper and read it aloud.

_"Salutations Master Tarnentela,_

_We have recently received word from a traveller that you have taken a new student. While this is perfectly acceptable, the documentation registering this student has not been completed and this is a grand oversight for a master of your calibre._

_Please ensure you and your new student come to Haword House to be registered at your earliest convenience._

_We hope to see you soon and may you live fully in the here and now._

_Yours respectfully,_

_Valeriana Bobaysan,_

_Student Registration Department of the Council of Demons."_

Tarn put the letter down and rubbed his head. "I knew this would come eventually but I still dreaded it."

The green haired woman sighed as she read the letter herself. "I suppose it has to be done."

"Kusu, I can't. I mean, register Rin? If I put one foot in Haword House with a human with the intention of registering her as my student I will be laughed out of the place! They will think I am insane or an idiot. Or they would take Rin away from me, from us. They may laugh and take her away anyway. And neither of us want that. Who knows what they would do to her."

Nodding, Kusu put the paper down and sighed. "But if you don't register her soon, they will send someone down here and find out that way. Surely it's better to take her there, get it over and done with, in a way that you are in control."

"Have you forgotten that humans are not meant to be able to use demon magic? I can't register a human as my student."

"Then we find a way to make Rin appear like a demon." Kusu said simply.

Tarn frowned at her. "Really? And how do you expect to do that?"

"What about a shifter spell?" Kusu offered. "You wouldn't have to change much, just her hair and eyes."

"Shifter spells are very complicated and difficult Kusu."

"You could do it with your eyes closed and you know it." She said, prodding at his ego. "I know you could do it."

"And what about her scent?"

Just at that moment there was a loud crash from outside followed by a lot of shouting. Tarn sighed and rolled his eyes. "They are at it again."

With a suffering smile, the two left the study and found the two students in the middle of a heated argument while around them was a mess of bottles that had clearly been knocked over but luckily none of them appeared to be broken.

Sesshomaru was calling Rin a clumsy fool while Rin countered by calling him a messy snob.

"Enough!" Tarn ordered, silencing them both even as they continued to glare at each other. The demon sighed at his students and shook his head. "When are you two going to get along? I can't stand all this fighting."

"Probably the same time you seen the moon in the demon world." Sesshomaru hissed, crossing his arms and turning his back on the young girl.

Rin also turned away and nodded. "Yeah, what he said."

"Why you little brat." He growled. "No one asked your opinion."

"Nor did they ask yours."

"Stop it, both of you." The master called before they could start again. "We have more important things to worry about right now."

"What do you mean master?"

"The council have found out that I have another student and now I have been summoned to register them."

Rin turned to the demon beside her with a cold glare. "You told them, didn't you As-bin!"

"As much as I hate you, human, I would never report my master. No matter how foolish his actions are."

"Stop it." Tarn growled before Rin opened her mouth. "It was a traveller who told the council. He must have come into the store and noticed four signatures, not the registered three. It happens. But we now have to register Rin without anyone finding out she is a human."

"Well, I might not have reported you but I don't care." Sesshomaru huffed as he began to clean up the mess around him. "That's your problem to sort out."

Tarn glared hard at him but then noticed the bottle in his hand. "Sesshomaru that's it!" He laughed. "Ha! You are a genius!"

The demon looked at what he was holding and nodded. "Oh."

"Kusu, I need you to put together the ingredients for that Shifter spell for me. Rin, I want you to go and pick out a nice modest dress." His grin grew. "You are going to the Demon Council."


	14. Part 5: Engin Chapter 2

**Part 5: Engin (14 Years old - July) Chapter 2**

To get to Haword House, also known as the Demon Council, Rin and Tarn had to travel further than they had ever travelled before, getting the local train to Central before changing to another long distance one that took them to the very edge of the country where the world changed to mountains and rivers. With each stop the train made, less and less humans continued onwards but the train was never empty, demons filled most of the seats however, there was a distinct void around where Tarn and Rin were sat, Rin shifting uncomfortably as the demons would stare at her, wrinkling their noses and covering their mouths before moving as far away as they could.

Tarn gave a small smile as one walked away. "It's working." He whispered. "That Cinder Sorrel is stinking out this whole carriage out. No one can stand being near us and it is masking your sent."

Rin sighed and looked down at her feet. "You know, being told 'I stink' isn't making me feel very nice about myself Master."

"It serves a purpose Rin. Now remember, when we get to Haword, keep your head down, don't speak unless spoken to and don't leave my side, even for a second, understand?"

"Yes sir."

"I know you, you'll be distracted by Haword. And under normal circumstances I would encourage your curiosity but not there. We can't risk someone being immune and realising what you are. And that shifter spell is good but there are those trained to see past them. I just hope we don't run into someone who can see past both."

Rin nodded again. "I promise I will stay close." She sighed, looking in the glass once more and taking in her reflection; her black hair transformed into a bright fluorescent pink and her eyes were a lime green instead of the normal brown. To the passing eye, she was a young demoness, even dressed in their formal style for the trip, a long simple brown dress with a short sleeved metallic trimmed robe. She still had her blue healing crystal around her neck but demons would often wear crystals for various reasons as well as fashion.

The master put a comforting hand on her shoulder and nodded. "Don't worry, we can do this." He whispered to her and to himself. "Just stay calm and near me. I won't let anyone hurt you, I promise."

Rin smiled at him and nodded. "I trust you."

They went back to watching the world for pass by for a while longer before the train came into its final stop, the signs identifying it as Haword Town. The station itself was in the middle of the town, to the right being a lot of hotels and a few shops but to the left was a long well-worn stone path, lined with well-kept trees on both sides. Tarn began down this path, walking calmly, the long formal robe he was wearing drifting in a breeze, Rin a step behind. With the fresh air, the Cinder Sorrel was more bearable so the other demons walked closer, one or two saying hello to Tarn as they went but no one made conversation.

After a few minutes of walking, the road curved to the side and a spectacular building came into view that made Rin almost stagger in her walk at the sight of it. It was called 'Haword House' but 'house' was the worst possible word for this building.

It was beautiful white stone with several large towers going upwards, their pointed roofs a golden colour as they reached for the sky. The main body of the Haword was a large rounded roof with several other smaller domes coming off it below them, lots of archways cut into the stone to help light the rooms inside.

The closer they got, the more detail she could make out; statues pressed into stone, the gold details around them, the symbols carved into them, stain glass windows that seemed to move in the light.

Ahead of them was an amazing pair of dark wooden doors, large enough to fit a giant through them but they were sealed shut. However, towards the bottom two smaller doors were allowing people in and out of the building. The demons slowed as they waited to enter, forming a line behind those before them. As they waited, Rin looked over the walls, taking in all the details she could of this place, looking at one of the statues nearby.

Suddenly she let out a loud yelp when it turned to face her and gave a wave.

Several of the demons around them chuckled as she clung to her master's arm, Tarn also chuckling as he waved. "Don't worry, it's just one of the security sentries."

"But it's made of stone."

"I'll tell you about it later." He promised as they headed down the line and through the door. The inside was just as bright as the outside, the light mainly coming from a large chandelier in the middle of the ceiling, the domed roof with several different levels wrapping around the upper parts. Most of the demons were heading all around the place, some carrying books and scrolls, some boxes and some just went off to different areas.

Tarn however headed for a four sided desk in the middle of the room where several demons were manning it, taking messages, directing visitors and informing others of arrivals. He nodded to the demon behind the desk and nodded. "Hi, I'm here to enrol a student?"

The demon nodded, trying to be polite despite the smell. "Umm… south tower, level five. Second room on the right."

"Thanks." He said, turning and leading the way.

He hadn't been wrong that there were a lot of things she wanted to explore; all around were rooms that Rin wanted to look inside, beautiful statues lined the way, paintings and wonders but she kept her mind on the task at hand. Tarn lead her to a door that opened to a spiral staircase, going up the five floors.

It took a while to arrive at the top but Tarn ended up bent over on his knees, trying to catch his breath. "Phew! I wish they would get lifts in this place." He complained.

Rin, not even out of breath, remained silent and scratched the back of her head.

He gave her a look then stood up and pulled his robe straight and sighed, leading the way once more. They arrived in a small round room with a purple haired demoness sat at a small desk reading a book, while behind her was a larger book on a stand, closed, bound and sealed with a lock of some kind.

As they walked over, the demoness nodded to them and put her book away. "Good afternoon."

"Good afternoon." Tarn nodded as he walked over. "I'm here to register a student into my care."

As they got closer, the demoness suddenly gagged and covered her mouth. "By the gods!" She coughed. "What is that smell!?"

Tarn rubbed the back of his neck casually. "Yeah, sorry about that. We had an accident with some Cinder Sorrel. Whole shop stinks of it, seems to be stuck to us too." He turned to the clerk with a nod. "Look, I just need to register and we will get out of here."

The clerk nodded then clapped her hands, the book behind her unlocking and a quill from a nearby ink spot flew out and hovered over the page. The demoness nodded then coughed. "Let's get this over with. Student's name?"

"Ivinalan Marie Scarlet Beacher." Tarn lied, a fake demon sounding name that they had come up with at the shop. "Also known as Rin."

"Age?"

"314." Another lie, Rin was only 14 years old.

"Hometown?"

"Dryshore." Not a total lie, she did live there and it was her home.

"Mentor name?"

"Tarnanok Petruzzelli."

"Membership number?"

"76328.02."

"Vow style?"

"Service to people."

With every word either of them said, the quill would come to life, scribbling it down then fall still waiting for the next words.

Finally the clerk turned to the pink haired teen. "Very well. Rin, step forward."

She did but before she got too close, the demoness pulled a face and covered her mouth, holding up her other hand. "That's close enough." She said through a cough.

"Sorry." The girl whispered. Tarn had given her a potion that meant she didn't smell the horrid Cinder Sorrel but she knew how bad it smelt to a human, she could only imagine how bad it was to a demon with their sensitive noses.

Turning away to breathe, the clerk turned back and nodded. "Right, hold your arm out like this and repeat after me." She held her arm out in front of her as if to shake hands.

As she did, Rin felt something tingle on her skin and slowly a pale blue light began to form around her wrist. It reminded her slightly of the curse but no one moved in a way that made her think it was a bad thing. The demoness nodded softly. "I, Ivinalan Marie Scarlet Beacher."

"I, Ivinalan Marie Scarlet Beacher." Rin said, blinking as the blue on her wrist began to move and write what she was saying.

"Hereby vow to uphold the laws of magic."

"Hereby vow to uphold the laws of magic."

"To protect those who need my help."

"To protect those who need my help."

"To take up arms only when called."

She paused at that, glancing at Tarn but he just nodded and waved for her to continue. "To-To take up arms only when called."

"Never to use my powers to harm."

"Never to use my powers to harm."

"To work hard, study and learn from my master."

"To work hard, study and learn from my master."

"By all that is good."

"By all that is good."

"To live fully in the here and now."

"To live fully in the here and now."

"This I swear to the end of time."

"This I swear to the end of time."

With the final words said, the spell around her arm glowed brighter before sinking into her skin. For a moment it left a dark almost burn on her skin then vanished once and for all. The clerk nodded then checked the bigger book. "Right, that's it. All done." She coughed and covered her mouth. "You can go now."

At the back of the room, Tarn smirked and stepped forward. "Oh? What about the master's vow?"

The woman gave him a look then coughed, desperate to get away from the smell. "Really?" She gasped, trying not to breathe in. "Really want me to do that master's vow?"

"It is tradition."

She glared at him harder then nodded. "Fine. Tarnanok Petruzzelli. Do you vow to protect, teach and guide Ivinalan Marie Scarlet Beacher for as long as she in in your care?"

"I do."

"Good now get out of here." She said then coughed harder. "Urgh… Tarn, you a still such a jerk."

"Nice to see you too Cal." He chuckled as they turned to leave. "Come on Rin, let's go home."

With a polite nod to the clerk, Rin and Tarn headed back the way they had come, down the stairs. "That went well." The master said as they moved. "Now let's get out of here before someone tries to talk to me. There are far too many people here for my liking."

Despite the wonders around them, Rin nodded and the pair headed as fast as was polite for the exit, joining the line of those leaving. The door was just in sight when they heard someone call out Tarn's name.

They turned to see a tall pale skinned demoness with fiery red hair that was tied behind her head in a long ponytail, dressed in a green gown with bare shoulders but green pearls around her forearms, elegant patterns covering the top and overlay skirt while in her hair was a golden band with a flower and an emerald stone hanging on her forehead, a stark contrast to her silver eyes.

Tarn bowed forwards and stepped out of the line to greet her. "Madam Hollina." He said. "It is good to see you again."

Hollina stopped a few steps away from then and her eyes widened as she stepped back. "Oh my. Had an accident with some Cinder Sorrel Tarn?"

"Unfortunately Holly. It was an accident."

"You always were a clumsy one." She said with a shake of her head and a smile. "Even when you were my student you would often drop things. So, what brings you to Haword House today? Not in trouble I hope?"

"Not today master." Tarn smirked.

The demoness nodded. "That is good to know. Can't have you ruining my good name as a teacher. So, why are you here?"

He swallowed and turned to Rin behind her. "I was registering my new student."

The silver eyes turned to her, appearing unaffected by the overpowering odour, smiling at the pink haired girl. "Hello there young lady." She said with a bow of her head.

Rin returned the bow a lot deeper than the master had given. "Greetings Master."

"What a polite girl. I hope Tarn is treating you well?"

"Yes madam."

"I'm glad to hear it." She said then turned to Tarn with a knowing smile. "You better be careful Tarn, you always did like to play the dangerous games." With that said, she turned and walked away.

Once she was gone, Tarn and Rin returned to the line, Rin watching the green dressed lady walk further into the distance. "Who was that?" she asked as she finally lost sight of her.

"That was my teacher when I was a student; Madam Hollina Sanel. She is a powerful demoness that is well respected around here. I heard a rumour that she is even being considered for the council itself." He shrugged a shoulder. "I doubt she will take it. It would take her away from her students."

"She has a lot?"

"I was one of twelve at the same time and they were always coming and going. She always said she would open a school but she prefers one on one teaching."

"She was very beautiful."

"A fine example of what I was telling you before; the power of magic restoring and preserving age. And shows how good a potion master she is. Her beauty products are known across the two worlds."

Rin smiled as they headed further away from the building. "She was very nice."

"She is. Now, come on, we need to go home and get this smell off us before the potion wears off."

With a nod, the pair hurried to the train station and began the way back home. It was about half an hour later that they were sat on the train towards Dryshore once more. Rin was looking out the window while Tarn watched her before nodding. "Rin, I need to ask you something."

"What is it master?"

"I have something to ask you but you probably won't like it."

She turned on her seat and sat, looking at him with concern. "Okay… what do you want to ask?"

"I want you to try and get along with Sesshomaru."

Eyes wide, the woman shook her head. "What! No! I mean… how? The guy hates me."

"I know he does. But you need to try to be the better person. You need to try to tolerate him as best you can." He smiled at her. "Sesshomaru is a good guy… under it all."

"He can't go two minutes without insulting me."

"And you don't help yourself with him."

"What do you mean?"

He pointed at her. "I know it was you that put the Calfish spleen in his bag." Rin couldn't help but snort at the memory but Tarn shook his head. "No, not funny. That is not the way to get him to like you."

"He will never like me."

"Then you need to learn to tolerate him. Kusu and I can't stand one more argument between the two of you. It's turning the shop into a battle ground." He smiled kindly at her, almost pleading. "Rin, please, I know you are a good kid, you can be better than him. Please, promise me you will try."

Sitting back in her seat, the teen sighed. "Fine. I promise, I'll try to get along with him. But I don't think he will return the favour."

"I know. But thank you for agreeing to try."

For a bit, they were silent but then Rin looked at him again. "Is Sesshomaru a Satremon master?"

"No, Sesshomaru is just a student. He came to my home one day and asked for me to teach him. I'd recently let my last student go so I agreed."

With a sigh, Rin sat back on the train seat. "He is still a jerk."

"That he is. But we have to learn to put up with him."


	15. Part 5: Engin Chapter 3

**Part 5: Engin (14 Years old - July) Chapter 3**

Sighing deeply, Rin left her room and headed towards the bathroom but on her approach she spotted the door was closed and she could hear off key singing from inside.

"I'm next." Came a voice behind her and she turned to see Sesshomaru leaning on the doorframe to his room. "Don't even think about going first."

"You know there is a shower downstairs right? Tarn will be ages, he always hogs the bathroom and uses most of the hot water. Why don't you use it?"

"That shower is useless. I'd rather wait."

The human shook her head slowly. "It was but Tarn had it fixed. It's really good now so why not go try it out?"

Sesshomaru glared at her. "Yeah right. You just want me to go use that horrid old shower while you get the bath."

"Honestly Sesshomaru, I'm trying to be nice. Just go and enjoy the shower. It's almost time for dinner so if you don't hurry you won't have time."

"No, because you have probably done something to it so I will end up with… green hair or… covered with warts." He huffed. "As if I would fall for such a simple trick."

Holding out her hands in surrender, the other shook her head again. "I swear there is no trick. I'll wait for Tarn or take the shower after you! I am _just_ trying to be nice to you."

"You being nice to me? Now I know it is a trick. I won't play your childish games. I will wait for the bathroom."

Giving up, Rin waved her hands in the air and turned away. "Fine! Suit yourself." She hummed, heading downstairs. "I give up! You wait! I'll go and take a shower!" She shouted up to him, passing Kusu in the kitchen who was making dinner. "Trying to be nice to Sesshomaru is like pulling thistles out without gloves." She groaned to the demoness.

"What happened?"

"Tarn is in the bathroom so I offered to let Sesshomaru go in the shower but he is sure I have done something to booby trap it for him!" She huffed and crossed her arms. "I mean… Tarn asked me to be nice to him but… it's so hard."

"Trust is a hard thing to gain sometimes Rin." Kusu said wisely as she continued with cooking. "And it is a two way street. You need to trust him so he will trust you."

Rin tried not to sneer at the idea and headed for the garden door then around the corner to the outside, locking the door behind her and enjoyed the shower as she washed her hair. Feeling refreshed and glad for it all, she dressed once more and went back inside, rubbing her hair with a towel as she went.

Kusu was laying the table as she came back and nodded. "Enjoy your shower Rin?"

"Yeah. I feel much better now." She smiled, putting the towel in the wash basket. "Dinner ready yet?"

"Just finishing. Will you go and get the boys?"

With a nod, Rin headed upstairs once more just in time to spot Tarn, wrapped in his dark brown housecoat, leaving the main bathroom while Sesshomaru was making a beeline for the room. "Hey, you two, dinner is ready."

While the silver haired demon glared at her the Master smiled. "Please tell Kusu I will be down in a minute once dressed." He said then headed into his room.

The other demon growled at her as he walked over to her and the stairs. "You knew this would happen." He snapped as he pushed past to head down.

"You had your chance. I tried to be nice to you. I tried to let you go downstairs but you didn't trust me."

He turned in the middle of the staircase and looked up at her. "Why would you try to be nice to me? What good would it do you?"

"I was wondering the same thing."

As they got downstairs, Kusu plated their meals and they waited for Tarn to join them. Unlike Rin who still had wet hair, Tarn came down dry and immaculate as ever, his smile bright as he sat with them. "So, Rin, how was the shower?"

"Fine thank you."

"I'm glad to hear it. But I have to ask, Sesshomaru, why didn't you accept Rin's offer to go first?"

The demon tensed a bit, not expecting him to have heard their conversation by the bathroom door. "Because I know that shower is old and useless."

"I see." Tarn hummed and looked down at his meal. "Rin, thank you for trying. I appreciate it."

"Yes sir." Rin smiled while Sesshomaru just glared at her.


	16. Part 6: Uilad Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey everyone! So, now we get to the interesting parts! I didn't get any reviews on the last part but hopefully this one will get some more interest?**

**Anyway, I have also decided to try and make a cover for this story but I can't think of a good design. Anyone got any ideas?**

**Part 6: Uilad (15 Years old – August) Chapter 1**

Wicker basket in one hand and a pair of garden sheers in the other, Rin looked around the green forest carefully. Tarn had sent her and Sesshomaru out to the forest near the town to collect a wild herb that was known to grow in the area.

The whole area was quite overgrown which made the task a lot harder but so did the fact that Rin and Sesshomaru still couldn't stand each other's company for more than a few seconds, until eventually they split up to search for the Blurriolary herb.

Sesshomaru sighed as he knelt on the ground, moving some of the thick leaves in search for the delicate plant with its small puce flowers. He didn't find it but he did pick a few other handy herbs and roots from the area before moving on. As he pulled a thick branch of a tree away and ducked under it, he blinked as he spotted a clearing in the overgrowth and in the middle was a large patch of small puce flowers.

Smirking, guessing his competition wouldn't find as much as this, he reached out to begin picking it. As he did, he felt a small charge pass over him and suddenly there was a blinding light above, a warm orb of light just large enough to fill the clearing he was in. He looked up at the sun, shielding his eyes from it with his hand, the blue of the sky replacing the normal purple of the demon world.

Looking around he could still see the darker world but in this spot, he was in the human world. Guessing he had found a fissure between the two worlds, he moved backwards until he passed back to his own world, looking down on the Blurriolary. From here, it was impossible to tell there was a gap between them and the human world.

For a moment he stood, thinking over what he had found. He heard someone swear behind him and an idea came to his mind but then he considered if he should. But another thought reminded him how much he hated the girl and how much he wanted her gone.

"Hey! Rin!" He called, backing up a bit. "I found some."

"You did?" Her voice called as she made her way towards him, her eyes widened at seeing what he had found. "Wow Sesshomaru, this is a really good collection." She said, stepping over to harvest it.

As she knelt down to pick some, the air was filled with electricity and she found herself blinded by the light but then a pain shot into her chest. Dropping her basket, she clutched her heart and fell onto her face, gasping for breath. She shivered, feeling an aching cold flood, her vision turning dark and blurry.

Outside the fissure, Sesshomaru stood, horrified by what he was seeing, watching her gasping for air yet coughing at the same time and all he could do was watch her lie there, struggling and choking, trapped.

Watching her die.

He could do nothing but watch the curse take effect, killing her. Just as she seemed to give up and closed her eyes, he snapped out of his trance and ran towards her, dragging her out of the rift, rolling her onto her back and looking over her. She was limp, lifeless and pale but breathing weakly, a small moan as she was moved.

Panicking, he picked her up as gently as he could, sweeping her up and held her close, beginning to run out of the forest and back to town as fast as he could. He charged into the shop, almost knocking over a leaving customer as he did but he didn't care. "Master Tarn! Kusu! It's Rin!" He shouted, pushing his way behind the counter and over to Kusu who was in the shop.

The moment she saw the teen in his arms, Kusu reached out and touched her cheek. "Oh dear gods… Rin… she's so cold." She whispered, taking her to the back room. "Tarn! Tarn come quickly! Rin's hurt!"

Soon the master came running out of his study as Sesshomaru lay the girl down one of the tables, Kusu looking her over and gasped. "Tarn she isn't breathing!"

"It's gonna be alright." The master said, quickly reaching to his pocket and pulling some rubbish out, searching one small vial out that had a red dust inside. Unstopping it, he gently wafted it back and forth under her nose, watching carefully until after a few seconds, she took in a deep but weak breath that was followed by several more but they were still frail and shallow.

Tarn let out a breath of his own as he put the bottle away and nodded. "Alright, she's breathing again. Kusu, go get her some blankets, we need to get her temperature up and fast."

"Yes sir." Kusu agreed, running out of the room.

Once she was gone, Tarn glanced over at his other student, not taking a step away from Rin. "What happened?"

"I-I'm not sure." He said, keeping his head high as he spoke. "We… we were out in the woods, looking for Blurriolary when I heard her coughing. When I found her she was out cold."

Tarn stared at him for a bit then nodded. "Then?"

"I went to help her. And I found a rift. I was suddenly in the human world. It must have been tiny but she must have crossed without knowing it."

Glancing back at Rin, he brushed some hair from her eyes and sighed. "Are you sure that is what happened?"

"As far as I know."

Closing his eyes, the green haired master let out a breath. "Final chance Sesshomaru. What happened?"

"I told you."

Looking up, the demon's eyes were narrow and cold, anger clear in them as he stepped over to the silver haired demon before lifting his fist and punching him in the face. "Liar!" He shouted, grabbing him by the shirt and pushing him into the wall. "You knew the rift was there and tricked her into it!"

Sesshomaru shook his head suddenly. "No! I had…"

"There is a truth crystal right NEXT TO YOU!" Tarn shouted, throwing the student back a little and pointing to a small clear crystal on the counter near where Sesshomaru had been standing. "I had it out for something else but figured it would be a good idea to test your honesty. And you LIED TO ME!"

"Tarn, what is going on?" Kusu asked as she came hurrying back, several blankets in her arms.

The blue haired demon was breathing hard as he pointed at Sesshomaru. "He tried to kill her. He tricked her into a rift and tried to kill her."

"I saved her." Sesshomaru snapped back. "I saw she was dying and pulled her out! If I wanted her dead I would have left her there."

"Why did you make her cross? If not to kill her then why?"

"She has no right to be here!" The younger shouted. "She has no right to live in this house with us or learn our magic."

"That is not your choice to make! You do not get to decide who I teach. Nor does it give you the right to kill her!"

"Tarn." Kusu said softly, reaching out and holding his shoulder after wrapping Rin in the blankets. "Now is not the time. Rin needs you."

With a final stern growl, Tarn turned away from the other and went to the girl, touching her head and beginning to mumble healing spells. Sesshomaru didn't move from his spot, just stood, watching and waiting for either of them to address him again. Finally he took a step to see if he could help when his master looked him in the eye over his shoulder. "You have done enough damage. Get out of my sight." He turned away once more. "I'll deal with you later."

The younger glared at his back but when neither he nor the housekeeper would look at him, he stormed off and to his room, slamming the door shut behind him. Once in his room he picked up a glass vase and threw it against the wall, the smashing a satisfying sound to his ears.

As he stood panting for breath, he heard someone moving outside and opened the door just in time to see Rin's door close.

Something twisted inside him and he walked over, opening the door and peaking in. When he saw it was Kusu, he stepped in a little more, watching as she tucked Rin in and put pillows behind her head to support her up. The demoness either didn't see him or chose not to acknowledge him so he coughed softly to get her attention. "How is she?"

"We don't know." She sighed. "We have no idea how this curse works. It may be that now it has been activated there is no stopping it and it will kill her. But just as much, she may recover with time. We might be able to reverse the damage done." Softly, she reached out for her hair and pulled at the ribbon that kept it in place, running her fingers through the locks to untangle them and let them hang freely. She shook her head as she felt the teen flinch and struggle. "But one thing is clear, she is in a lot of pain."

Sesshomaru moved a little closer to the bed and looked at the human in it; her eyes closed but then continued to shift and move, her breath still short and slow.

He stood for a moment, unsure what he could or should do for her before deciding to leave but Tarn was in the doorway, holding a glass of a pinkish liquid. He didn't say a word to Sesshomaru but walked over to the bed, taking the seat Kusu gave up on his approach, putting the glass down and reaching out to touch her skin. "She's still too cold. Kusu, see if you can find some scornesite. I think there is some in the stockroom. Bring as much as you can."

"Right away." She agreed, hurrying off as fast as she could and leaving the two alone once more.

Tarn however had no intention of speaking to his student but instead reached for Rin's hand, squeezing it tight. "Rin, I'm not sure if you can hear me but I need you to drink as much as you can." He said, picking up the glass. "I even added some strawberries to it so it would taste nice. But you need to drink it, alright?"

There was no sign that she had heard him but as he lifted her head with one hand and the glass with another, he tipped a little into her mouth.

"Atta girl." He praised when she swallowed it and gave her another mouthful. He was able to get half the drink into her before she coughed and would take no more. Tarn nodded, using a handkerchief to wipe her mouth clean. "Alright, that's enough for now. You did really well. You rest now, okay?"

Silence filled the room until Kusu returned carrying a large collection of thick shiny black rocks that she had to hold in a towel. "I got every one of them." she explained.

"Good. Put a few small ones under her feet and a few under her pillow. And give me that big one." He said, pointing to the one in question. For a while the two of them just placed the scornesite around the bed and girl before Tarn put a hand on Rin's head again and smiled. "That's better, she's warming up now. We will leave the scornesite for a few hours then take them away. Don't want to cook her." He chuckled, trying to joke but it fell flat as he stood. "All we can do now is wait."

Sesshomaru had been stood there the whole time but now he took a step forwards, opening his mouth to speak.

"If she dies, her blood is on your hands." Tarn said coldly, looking at him at last. "You can say it was the curse, you can say it was an accident but it will be your fault if she dies. And I will not forgive you if she does."

"I didn't want to hurt her."

"You still keep lying to me." He sighed, shaking his head. "You knew. You knew returning to the human world would kill her in moments. You have seen me working on the translation for weeks, months of work trying to break it and save her. And you didn't think it would be 'bad'?" He shook his head and let out a breath. "I thought you were better than this Sesshomaru."

The younger demon threw back his head and looked to the ceiling. "By all the gods! It's just a human! There are millions of them out there! Who cares if one of them dies! They die all the time!"

Kusu and Tarn both looked stunned by his words before Tarn closed his hand into a fist. "When you became my student, you took a vow. _To protect those who need your help. Never to use your powers to harm._ You have broken that vow Sesshomaru. To protect all includes humans, if not more than other demons. Our world needs them as much as it needs us. And especially a human that is under my protection and tuition." The master let out a breath again, trying to control his temper. "I have decided on your punishment."

Sesshomaru stiffened a bit at the words. "What?"

"You will look after Rin until either she has recovered or died from her wounds. You will stay in this room until I say so. You, and you alone will look after her. You will feed her, wash her and give her medicine until she is well enough to leave on her own. And if she dies, you will bury her and stand over her grave for 100 days."

"You can't do this to me." Sesshomaru snapped. "You can't lock me in here!"

"I can and I will!" Tarn shouted back. "Or I will throw you out and have the council strip you of your powers!"

When Sesshomaru said nothing in reply, Tarn stepped to the nearest wall and picked up a pen from Rin's counter, drawing something on the wall paper. All in the room watched as he cast the spell, Sesshomaru feeling it pulling on his body softly, like a rope had been tied around his neck. The master turned to him and pointed to the drawing. "This spell will allow you out three times a day for the bathroom, use it wisely. But other than that, you are bound to this room. Kusu will bring your meals and I will bring Rin's medicine but you will give it to her."

With that said, he turned and walked towards the door, ushering Kusu out with him.

The silver haired demon watched in horror as they moved, running after them but as he reached the doorframe the rope pulled him back. "No! No you can't do this to me! Let me out of here!"

He tried again and again to get out but it wouldn't give. He tried to counter the spell but he wasn't strong enough to overpower Tarn's. Cursing and shouting, he turned to the human in the bed. "This is your fault!" He snapped at her. "This is all your fault!"

She didn't reply, just lay there.

He growled, tempted to strangle her in her sleep and be done with it but instead settled for pacing back and forth across the small room. When it was clear he wasn't getting out or going to be released, he went over to the girl and placed a hand on her forehead. She was still cold to the touch but there was a pinkness to her cheeks now from the stones and blankets around her. After moving a few, he turned to the half glass of medicine Tarn had left and got the girl to drink it before going back to pacing.

From then he was silent, sat either by her bed, on the sofa or on the floor, thinking and brooding, grumbling regularly to himself as time passed. As Kusu brought him his dinner, he begged her to give him a book to read, saying he was going mad with boredom. Looking behind him and spotting the dirty empty glass, Kusu said she would ask for him and left.

When Tarn came a bit later with another glass of pink strawberry mixture, he had a single book that he passed over to him. "Here."

The book was the thinnest Sesshomaru had ever seen and when he saw the cover, he almost punched his master. "The Very Hungry Caterpillar?"

"A child's book for a childish behaviour. Enjoy." He said flatly before leaving.

From then his temper grew, snapping and cursing, throwing pillows from the sofa at the wall. Halfway into his temper tantrum, Rin rolled to her side and began to cough loudly. He turned, looking at her before stepping over and rubbed her back softly until the fit passed, not saying a word to her as he did, just sat there making sure she didn't suffocate.

Eventually she stopped and he helped her lie back, replacing the blankets and removed some of the stones around her, putting them on the floor instead. Then he went back to the sofa where he sat silently, watching her and contemplating everything.

It went on for several more days, Rin coughing on her bed being the only sound. Even Kusu and Tarn said nothing to him when they came to give him medicine, food or supplies. Once or twice, Kusu would step in, brush Rin's hair back and tell her she would be alright but Tarn never stepped into the room, even if it was clear he wanted to.

Sometimes Sesshomaru sat near her, thinking over everything that had happened and brought him to this moment but most of the time he sat on the sofa with his back to her.

Over the next few days he poked his way through her belongings, browsing the collection of books, mostly ones on plants and herbs, looked over her dresses and pulled at the ribbons to see what would happen. He eventually pulled out the box of hair slides she had and organised them by shape and then by colour just for something to do.

Still locked in and with nothing else, he read his way through the whole collection until the only thing left to read was the child's book he'd left on the side.

Out of sheer boredom, he picked it up from where it was and moved to the bed, sitting beside Rin and opened the book. With a sigh, he began to read aloud. "In the light of the moon… a little egg lay on a leaf. One Sunday morning… the warm sun came up and pop." He said, trying to keep his voice steady, even at the stupidity he felt saying. Still, he couldn't stop himself from reading on.

Just as the caterpillar began to make his cocoon, he felt something on his leg and looked to see Rin had moved closer to him, her hand resting on his leg and her head pressed near his spine. She still had her eyes closed but it was clear her attention was on him. She didn't appear in pain so he left her where she was and continued with the last few pages of the story.

That evening, as he helped her drink her strawberry flavoured medicine, her eyes finally opened and she looked up at him. Looking back, he blinked and put the glass down before turning to her. "Hey." He whispered to her, nodding. "It's alright. You're okay."

She nodded back slightly, still too weak to speak.

Hurrying over to the door as far as the spell would allow him, Sesshomaru let out a shout. "Hey! Tarn! Kusu! Rin is awake!"

It was only a few moments later that Tarn came charging up the stairs and a few seconds after him Kusu joined them, hurrying over to the bed and hugging the girl loosely. "Oh Rin. You scared us! I was so worried about you."

"Kusu, don't squeeze the girl so much." Tarn chuckled softly, touching the housekeeper's shoulder. "She is still quite weak." His gaze fell on the girl and he smiled. "But it seems the worst is over. I'm glad to see you are looking better Rin."

She smiled at him weakly but her eyes were already drooping, settling down for a calmer rest.

While Kusu tucked her in, Tarn turned to his student. "I hope this taught you a lesson Sesshomaru."

After a moment, Sesshomaru nodded. "Yes sir. It has."


	17. Part 6: Uilad Chapter 2

**Part 6: Uilad (15 Years old – August) Chapter 2**

"Careful up there."

Rin turned to the voice with a confused look. "Seriously?" she said, looking at the footstool she was standing on. "I wouldn't break anything from this height."

Sesshomaru glared at her before returning to his own work, while Rin rolled her eyes and continued cleaning, lifting items up off the shelves to dust under them.

A gentle bell pulled her away from the task and she turned towards the door, her face lighting up with a smile. "Oh Thomas! Good afternoon. Do you need some more Sallet lotion already?"

Thomas, a dark haired human with brown eyes nodded as he walked over to the counter, placing a small empty vial on the wood before him. "Sadly yes. Mom is using it all the time at the moment."

"You know you are only meant to use it twice a day." Rin explained as she took the bottle and went to a large barrel on the counter, turning the tap and slowly filling the vial.

The 16 year old boy nodded as he watched, leaning on the counter. "Yeah, I know but mom says it really helps with the pain. This new recipe is really helping her leg."

"It's the same recipe." Rin explained as she stopped the tap and wiped the top clean with a cloth. "Just better ingredients."

"And you still make it?"

Sallet lotion was a popular pain killer used for various reasons that could be made by both humans and demons but it was widely agreed that demons made a better version than most humans. Tarn had once explained to her it was because demons would enchant the ingredients to make them more potent.

So, Rin nodded when Thomas asked. "Yep, this is my batch." She said then shook the keg. "Looks like I will need to make more soon."

"Maybe that's what makes it so good. You're a very talented person." He smiled, taking the filled bottle and putting it in his pocket. "Still 20 frabsi?"

"15, since you brought the bottle back, I can give you a discount." Rin smiled as he got out his payment.

Thomas beamed as he counted it out in his hand. "So, how are you handling summer in the demon world?"

Suddenly she groaned and fanned her face with her hand. "It's so hot! I've never known anything like it! The air is so clammy, it's like being in an oven most of the time."

The other laughed at her. "Yeah, it is bad. This is my first one here. Mom was saying she would normally go to the human world this time of year, to get away from the heat. But she can't with…" He trailed off.

"Of course. With her leg." Rin finished off for him. "I hope she gets better soon."

"My sister has come over at the moment for a few days to help look after her. To give me some time off."

Rin nodded as she moved to the till. "That will be nice for you. You work so hard looking after her."

"Yeah." He smiled, handing over the payment. "Actually, I was wondering if you would like to join me for dinner tonight?"

She blinked as she got his change and froze. "Sorry?"

"Dinner?" He said with a smile. "You know that meal at the end of the day?"

"Yes I know what dinner is." Rin mocked. "But you want to go out for dinner with me?"

"As long as you don't mind."

"Not at all." She smiled. "I'd love to join you for dinner."

"She can't."

The two humans turned suddenly to the silver haired demon who, by age and appearance, was older than them both, Sesshomaru with his eyes sharp on the other male.

Rin glared at him instead. "Sesshomaru what are you…"

"She is needed here." Sesshomaru interrupted without breaking his stare. "You will need to find someone else to go to dinner with."

Thomas gulped at his presence then nodded. "Umm, alright… I guess… I guess I will be going then."

"Thomas wait…"

"Have a good day." Sesshomaru said sharply, watching until he had left and walked past the shop window.

Once he was gone, Rin turned to him. "And what was that about! You have no right to speak to him like that. I'm 16 years old now, I can go out for dinner if I want."

"I don't like him." The demon said as he headed for the back room. "He smells funny."

"To a demon like you, everyone smells funny!" Rin huffed. "I'm going to tell him I would like to go for dinner. I think we have his address here somewhere." She said looking in a book near the till.

Suddenly a hand came down and stopped her from changing the pages. "You are not going anywhere with him."

"You are not my mother Sesshomaru." She snapped, glaring at him.

"No. But I know someone who can tell you what to do." He smirked then looked at the door between the shop and the house and opened it. "Master Tarn? Master Tarn, can you come here please?"

A moment later, Tarn did come in and nodded to them. "What's going on? I thought you two were starting to get along."

"Master, Rin has been asked to join that human Thomas for dinner."

"And Sesshomaru has told him I can't go!" Rin finished. "Please tell him that he can't control my life!"

"That human is wrong." The demon explained. "Something about him just smells and feels wrong. I don't think it is a good idea for Rin to be alone with him."

"You just don't want me to have a life outside this shop."

"Rin, shush." Tarn said, thinking over it. "Normally, I would agree that stopping her from going out is rude and inconsiderate of you, Sesshomaru. However, I also have had a strange feeling about that boy. And Sesshomaru has shown impressive skills in foresight and prophecy. I'm sorry Rin but I have to agree with Sesshomaru this time. It's not a good idea for you to be out with that boy."

The teen glared at them both. "Fine." She snapped then headed into the back and up to her room. Once alone, she paced in her room and rubbed her arms as she tried to think.

Just as she calmed down, there was a knock on the door. "Come in."

Having expected Kusu or Tarn, she was quite surprised and a little angry when the other student came in. "Sesshomaru?" She frowned. "What do you want?"

Hands behind his back, the man stood with his head high. "I came to ask if you would like to come out for dinner with me."

Her eyes narrowed, anger returning. "Really? You want me to join you for dinner?"

"Since you appeared excited about going out with Thomas."

"Yeah, because I _like_ Thomas. I wouldn't join you if you were the last man on _either_ world."

Sesshomaru stared at her for a moment then nodded his head a little. "I see. Very well." He said then turned and walked away, pulling the door closed behind him as he left.

Alone with her thoughts once more, she found her anger had returned, walking over to the window to try and think when she spotted on the other side of the road was Thomas. She opened her window and waved over to get his attention.

He waved back at her then began to mime actions but Rin rolled her eyes with amusement and subtly cast a spell so she could hear him.

"You… me… here… 6… o'clock… dinner?"

After a moment, Rin nodded and gave him a thumbs up and closed the window, looking at the clock. It was just past five so she had an hour to prepare. After shouting out to those downstairs that she didn't want any dinner and was going to bed, she stuffed a pillow under the covers to make it look like she was asleep then she started to get ready, pulling on a yellow dress that came to just above her knees, made of a light and cool material for the summer heat then a small pair of pump shoes, brushing her hair up into a bun and went to the window, opening it up and looking down.

It was a long drop but Rin had a trick to help her get down safely. Returning to her room, she picked up a crystal from her shelf then went to her side table, picking up a paper and pen and drawing a spell on it before tying it to the crystal and, carefully, dropped it out the window so it was right under her.

With a deep breath she pulled herself up onto the window and sat on the edge, looking down. With another breath, she pushed herself out and for a moment she was falling but then the spell took effect and slowed her decent until she was hovering just off the stone. Stepping off it, she knelt down and grabbed the paper and crystal, hiding it around the side of the building for later.

Now on the street, she smoothed her hair back once more, just as Thomas arrived. "Hey." He said cheerfully.

"Hey." Rin returned, grabbing his arm and pulling him away from the Sapphire Rune, glancing back to make sure no one had seen her escape.

Thomas smiled as he watched her. "Had to sneak out I take it?"

"Not easy in a house full of demons."

"Well then, let's get away before they spot you." He said, holding her hand and pulled her away, down towards the centre of town.

Rin glanced back a few times but finally stopped. "It was really nice of you to invite me out Thomas."

"Well, you deserve it. I rarely see you out the shop and when you are out, you are always with Master Tarn or that demoness."

"You mean Kusu?"

"Yes, sorry, I'm not very good with names." He laughed casually.

"It's funny, I never have that problem." Rin smiled. "I have a very good memory."

"Yes, everyone in town always says you have a great memory."

"People in town talk about me?" She blushed. "Really?"

"Well… not much but it is hard to talk about Master Tarn without mentioning his beautiful little human."

She pouted at him. "You make me sound like a pet."

"Aren't you?" He teased. "You live a life of luxury, not wanting for anything, living with a powerful demon who dresses you up and parades you around for all to see?" He shrugged a shoulder as they walked down the street. "It sounds like a pet to me."

Rin snorted a laugh and nudged his arm. "Oh come off it. Tarn does not see me like that. I'm assistant shop keeper, I look after the house when Kusu is too busy… I cook and clean. I work for my keep."

"It is odd for a demon to have a human assistant."

"I'm also his Satremon."

"Ahh." Thomas said and nodded. "That makes sense! I didn't know you were a Satremon."

"It's not something I tell people."

"It does explain a few things."

"And, by the way, I hate all those fancy frilly dresses Tarn and Kusu like to put me in. I much prefer simpler clothes."

Looking her over, Thomas nodded. "Yeah, they do suit you better."

"Thank you." She smiled at the compliment. "It's Kusu who likes to put me in fancy dresses. Has since I was little. Anyway, where are we going for dinner?"

"There is a little restaurant just down this way." He explained, pointing down a road. "I go there all the time to eat. It's perfect for hot weather like this."

"Sounds lovely."

They turned down the road in question and continued to walk, passing several shops but most were closed down and boarded up until they arrived in a small courtyard.

Rin frowned as she walked in, looking around. "Whoa, this place looks bad. When was the last time you came here Thomas?"

It was clear the place had once been a café or restaurant, there were tables, chairs and a counter towards the back with a fridge and what looked like a display case but the chairs were all stacked to the side and the tables were on another, covered with sheets. Leaves and litter filled the place and the walls were covered in mould and dirt.

Walking further in, Rin shook her head. "Looks like this place has been shut for a while." She turned to face Thomas but he was nowhere in sight. "Thomas?"

"I'm here Rin." He said, appearing behind her.

With a startled gasp, she smiled then looked around. "I guess we will have to find somewhere else to eat."

"I think this will be fine actually." Thomas chuckled, reaching out and grabbing her arm. "After all, dinner just arrived."

A cold chill ran suddenly down her spine as she looked at him closer. "You're not Thomas, are you?"

"Oh, I am Thomas, the same Thomas who has been coming into your shop for the last five weeks, sampling that very strange power that only your shop has." He pulled her closer, putting his face near her neck, inhaling loudly. "It's not human but not demonic. I wasn't sure what it was, if it was because you were surrounded by powerful demons or if it was you. So I needed to get you away from them, to see for myself. And now I can tell, it _is_ you."

Rin trembled slightly at his words and feeling his hand squeeze her arm tightly. "What are you going to do?"

The laugh was cold and Rin yelped suddenly as something punctured the skin of her neck. The pain soon faded, as if numbed by something but she tried to push him back. "Get off me!" She shouted, panicking.

If by her wish or for his own reason, Thomas did let go, leaning back and licking his lips of her blood. "Such a fine taste. I might have to keep you alive to enjoy it longer." He chuckled, letting her go and watching her fall to the floor in a dizzy heap.

One hand on the bite, Rin looked up at him for a moment before trying to get back up but she found herself swaying, dizzy and confused. After a moment the sensation cleared and she was able to get up, running towards the other side of the courtyard when she felt the back of her dress being grabbed and she was pulled off her feet, thrown to the other side and into the wall. She crashed down on a covered table with a loud grunt and felt the wind being knocked out of her.

With a cough, she looked up at the creature. "What do you want from me?"

Thomas walked towards her slowly, shrugging casually as he did. "I want to feed. I've been tasting your power for weeks but now I want the real thing."

Feeling trapped, Rin pulled herself off the table and tried to keep him in her sights while working on a plan to get out of this. Thomas just stood before her as if tempting her to try and escape again so he could stop her. She glanced around for anything she could use as a weapon but she knew she had to either stay and surrender or try to fight and run away. Part of her knew it was futile. She already knew he could stop her easily. She was really regretting sneaking out alone with no one knowing where she was.

Her neck was throbbing a little but she could tell it wasn't bleeding too badly even if her dress was covered in blood.

Thomas smirked as he looked at her. "Is that it? No more fight? No running for your life? You are just going to give up?" He pouted slightly at her. "And here I was expecting a fight from you. But I guess it's to be expected; even if you do have demonic powers, you are still human and they never fight back for long."

"So you do this often?"

"Everything needs to eat, Rin. It is my nature to drink the blood of other living creatures." He licked his lips again. "Most of my kind can cope with animals but I have a taste for those with powers. And your taste is so very unique."

Heart pounding, Rin nodded and looked around. "So… what will you do to me?"

"I'll take you to my home, lock you away with the other special ones." He grinned, stepping towards her again. "I'll take as good care of you as Master Tarn did. Feed you, clothe you, look after you… and in return, you let me drink your blood whenever I want." He reached out, brushing her hair back. "Don't worry, I know when to stop to prevent killing you."

"And if I refuse?" She asked, stepping out of his grasp.

Thomas let out a tired sigh and shook his head a little. "You already know I am stronger and faster than you. You don't really have a choice in the matter. So, come along quietly so I don't have to break a bone."

The cold truth that he was right had Rin stuck on the spot, watching as he reached for her once more but then suddenly stopped and turned to look behind him, back to the entrance of the courtyard. "What!" He shouted, anger clear. "How did you get here demon?"

Rin stepped to the side to see around the monster and her eyes lit up on seeing Sesshomaru stood by the entrance, reaching to his side and pulling a sword from a sheath, the blade straight and plain.

Thomas frowned as he looked over the demon. "How did you even find this place? This whole courtyard is concealed. You can only find it if you know it is here."

"I spent over 5 years learning how to track and kill monsters like you." Sesshomaru muttered before turning to the side slightly. "Now, let the human go."

Glancing at Rin behind him, the creature shook his head. "No. She's far too powerful for me to let her go. You want her, you'll have to fight me for her."

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes then charged forwards to meet the creature. Although he didn't look it, Thomas was strong and fast, dodging the blow as it came towards him and lashing out with his own, his fingers suddenly sharp with razor like nails that he swung for the demon, catching his shoulder as he did. Sesshomaru let out a grunt as he took a stand near Rin, watching the monster lick his finger and scrunched up his nose in disgust. "Ewyuck." He said shaking his head. "Barely anything compared to her."

"We will see about that." Sesshomaru growled, charging forwards once more, Thomas doing the same and the two of them clashed in the middle, Thomas swinging for his head but Sesshomaru turned the blade to block just in time before attacking himself but the other blocked easily.

From the side, Rin watched the fight carefully but it was soon clear it was an equal match, even if Thomas got behind the demon and managed to bite into his neck, a messier attack than when he bit Rin, Sesshomaru's blood soon streaming down his clothes but the demon continued to fight as if he felt nothing from it.

That gave Rin an idea and she realised a way to help tip the fight in his favour. Carefully she reached up to her neck and dipped her finger into her own blood before using it as a sick paint to draw something on the floor near her.

In the middle of the courtyard neither of them were paying much attention to the human, each of them blocking and attacking each other, trying to kill the other. Just as he backed up a little bit, Thomas froze where he was, arm still outstretched to attack, his leg raised as he pushed himself forwards but now frozen in time. "Wh-what the…"

Sesshomaru took full advantage of whatever had happened and swung his blade, disconnecting the head from his neck. Even then the body remained where it was while the head rolled on the floor.

Looking past him, Sesshomaru saw Rin mumbling a spell, her hand over a blood drawn spell on the ground but on seeing the fight was over, she stopped and the body collapsed to the ground.

After a moment to be sure the creature wasn't going to wake up, Sesshomaru sheaved this blade and went over to the human, kneeling down beside her and turning her head to the side to see her wound. "Does it hurt?" He asked coldly.

"It's just a scratch. I think I did more damage using my blood to draw that spell." She said with a light chuckle but unable to look at him.

Checking for himself, the demon decided it wasn't that bad, just four puncher marks surrounded by several blunter bruises in the shape of a bite. It was still bleeding a little but it would stop soon. With a small huff of air, he leant back and looked at the human silently.

After an uncomfortable moment under his gaze, Rin shifted. "Fine! Alright! Thank you for saving my life. Happy?"

Sesshomaru still didn't move or say anything to her.

Again she shifted. "Alright, I'm sorry for doubting you… you were right… he was bad news. But you were being a jackass as well."

With a small smile on his lips, Sesshomaru stood and looked towards the entrance of the courtyard. "Let's go."

Getting up and feeling her body tremble for a moment, Rin frowned at him. "Really? No gloating? No 'I told you so'? Nothing?"

"No." Sesshomaru said plainly as they walked.

"Dare I ask why?"

"Because, no matter what I have to say, I'm sure what Tarn will say about you sneaking out will be much worse."

Realising how much trouble she would be in, Rin swore loudly.


	18. Part 6: Uilad Chapter 3

**Part 6: Uilad (15 Years old - August) Chapter 3**

Sesshomaru sighed as he looked over the collection of herbs and ingredients on offer at the shop before picking out what he had been asked to get for Tarn and the shop. Basket filled, he paid and turned to return home when he spotted a man in a very flamboyant multi-coloured outfit putting a poster up on a wall. There were several others putting the same poster up all over the street with many of the townspeople already gathering around to read them.

Stepping over Sesshomaru looked at the image before heading back to the Sapphire Rune, walking past Kusu in the shop and finding Rin and Tarn as they worked with a potion.

"Master Tarn, I'm curious..." Rin said softly as she stirred it. "If there is something called 'masking potion' why didn't we use it when we had to go to the council?"

"A masking potion would completely remove your scent." He explained, measuring out some powder. "And if you had been there without a scent at all, people would have asked why and looked closer at you. We needed a way to mask your human scent and explain why others couldn't tell you were smelling of a demon. Hence the Cinder Sorrel."

"I guess that works." She hummed then looked behind her. "Oh! Sesshomaru, you're back."

"Did you get all the ingredients?"

"They didn't have any othium." He sighed. "The shop keeper said to come back in two days."

"We can cope without for an extra couple of days." Tarn said with a smile. "Now, Rin, slowly add the caltava, making sure it doesn't lump."

Sesshomaru stood at the end of the table and watched as she worked before nodding. "Oh and I saw a poster in town. Looks like the Twilight Sphinx is back."

Tarn frowned as he looked up. "Twilight Sphinx? Haven't seen them in a while. I will have to tighten the bell in the shop."

"Why?" Rin questioned, still stirring the potion.

"It is just odd that whenever the Twilight Sphinx are in town, stuff goes missing." Tarn huffed. "Now, keep stirring while I go check the doorbell."

"Actually master, I was wondering if Rin would like to see the show."

Tarn frowned at him. "Really? They are just demons who use the magic we do every day for the crowds."

"Yes sir but… it's a chance to see magic being used in an unusual way." He shrugged. "And… we don't get to do things like that very often."

Staring hard at the silver haired demon, Tarn thought about it then nodded. "Rin, would you like to go?"

Since her trouble with Thomas, Rin had been forbidden to leave the shop for any reason, including shopping so she was quick to nod and smile. "Yes, please!"

"Alright. But I have to insist that Sesshomaru goes with you. I don't want you out alone with those thieves." He pointed to the other demon. "And you will protect her."

"Yes sir."

"Good. Now, go buy two tickets for tonight. I will ask Kusu to bring dinner forward so you can go." He nodded then went towards the shop, leaving Rin and Sesshomaru alone.

The human smiled as she looked at the other. "Thank you, Sesshomaru, for doing that."

"I figured you could do with a night out."

"And you don't mind being forced to come with me?"

"These shows are slightly… pathetic compared to what we do but they are enjoyable." He said with a shrug. "It's better than staying in."

She smiled and stepped away from the table and looked at him. "You know, the last few weeks, you've been really…different. And… nice to me."

"Perhaps I am just fed up of fighting."

"Well, whatever the reason, I'm… glad and… hope we can become friends." She offered, holding out her hand.

Shaking it, Sesshomaru nodded then glanced behind her. "You need to keep stirring that."

Cursing, Rin hurried back to her potion and continued her work while Sesshomaru put away the things he had purchased.

Later in the afternoon, they had dinner earlier than normal, enabling the younger two of the household to leave for the show. Sesshomaru sighed as they walked down the street before reaching into his pocket and pulled out a small half crushed flower. "This is for you, by the way, Rin."

She looked at the flower, white with blue insides, one of the petals bent a little but still a beautiful flower. "Thank you." She said, taking it from his hand and putting it into her hair. "How do I look?"

"It suits you." He complimented as they continued to walk.

Twilight Sphinx had set up their caravans near the edge of town, in an open field near the woods, several of the waggons they used set up in a close circle where they could rest and sleep while one larger one was set up with torches around it and several wooden benches for the audience. A demon was near the front, checking tickets and welcoming guests, most of whom were humans but there were the occasional demons in the mix. As Sesshomaru and Rin took their seats, they looked around, curious over whatever was going to happen next.

Just as the last of the seats were taken, suddenly singing filled the air in a strange foreign language, the sound seaming to travel around them and fill every part of the camp while the bright fires in the cauldrons began to dim to mild glows and the crowd hushed as all attention was on the stage. A loud drum started to pound in time with the song and the curtains at the back of the stage were thrown open, six men coming out and tumbling on the stage before righting, arms out then stepped to the side where they watched the curtains.

Another came out as the song continued, this being a woman with several daggers at her hips that she pulled out and began to juggled expertly, throwing one extra high and span on the spot as she did before catching it an inch from her head then she too stood to the side. The curtains opened again and a woman accompanied by two male demons came forwards, the woman in the middle singing as she did before waving her hand to the man on her left who blew something into the air, a small crackle of fire coming from his mouth like a mini firework. The woman waved to her right and the other demon, who appeared a perfect twin to the one on the other side, waved his hands and a pale mist came out, the people in the front row laughing and screeching as they were soaked.

The singer grinned as she continued, turning on the spot and her long red feathery dress suddenly changed, becoming shorter and green and covered in sparkles, sounds of amazement from the crowd.

The music and her singing becoming calmer as she stepped back while the six tumblers came forwards, the smallest of the group at the bottom as the other five climbed up on top of him to create a upside down pyramid, all of them grinning as they did until one was at the very top. Then he jumped off, back flipping and landing upside down on one hand as he did.

The woman got faster and louder as she sang while one of the acrobatics came forwards with a bunch of flowers that another took from him and waved his hand quickly over, the flowers becoming birds that flew up into the sky, the crowd cheering as he did. Another tumbler had a lump of metal in his hand that one of his fellow acts transformed into a large gemstone.

The song never stopped, carrying on, cheerful, loud and bright as one of the acrobats jumped from the stage and down the alley in the crowd, grabbing something from the ground, lifting it up to reveal a hissing snake that had a lot of people screaming in fear but then he threw it up into the air and caught instead a long pearl necklace with a golden pearl in the middle.

Finally the last member of the six came to the front and picked out an audience member with a large flamboyant hat on, waving his hand over it and suddenly the hat became a black and white rabbit that hopped down off their head and into their lap.

The crowd all clapped while Sesshomaru leant near Rin's ear as he joined in. "Normally the rabbit comes out of the hat… not the hat becomes the rabbit."

"Amazing use of the Trais spell." Rin commented as the acrobatic magicians climbed back onto the stage and stood to the side.

Next up was the juggler who pulled her blades out again and began to throw them in all sorts of directions, including at the audience but they would always be pulled back to the juggler before they could do any harm, her movements confident as she added more blades until she was non-stop moving them. Then one of the tumblers came over and, while she was still moving, placed a blindfold over her eyes yet she didn't drop a single dagger.

"Extiiseo repeatori." Rin said to her partner who nodded in agreement. "Takes some of the fun when you know what spell they are using."

"Still a good show."

The blindfold was removed and the juggler caught the blades in her hands and one in her mouth then she took a bow.

Next the singer with the twins stepped forwards, the three of them spinning on the spot as the singer's dress once more turned from green to golden yellow, long sleeves forming down her arms as she did.

One of the demons bowed to her then turned on the spot, blowing out towards the audience, his breath black smoke with little golden embers in it, but with a wave of his hand, they suddenly ignited into a great ball of fire, the audience leaning back to watch as it rose high into the sky and took the shape of a great roaring dragon, wings wide and jaw open as it flew up into the air above them, lighting every face.

Meanwhile the water demon flicked his hand away and from a barrel near the stage suddenly a massive wave of water flew up into the sky with the fiery beast. He moved his hand to shape it into that of a pod of dolphins that swam through the air up and around the dragon, the fire beast swooping down and crashing through a few of them, eating them and spraying the crowd below with mist.

When one dolphin was all that remained and the dragon was chasing it, the demon suddenly pulled his arms wide to the side and the creature split into a collection of smaller orbs that flew around the open air. Then they came together to create a great big squid with a multitude of arms that reached out and wrapped around the dragon, squeezing it until it burst into smoke and embers and the whole stage fell dark.

Then, slowly a golden ember left from the dragon drifted right into the middle of the stage. It sizzled and glowed before blooming with light and rose up to create a bird of pure fire, the call echoing across the stage with the call of the singer behind it, as she came to a loud and sudden end to her song. The stage was filled with a blinding light as the phoenix vanished and in its place was a dark skinned bald demon in a red and gold sparkling outfit, his face was covered in a golden paint in a curled pattern.

As the crowd cheered for the opening act, the man bowed then held his hands wide. "Thank you! And welcome to Twilight Sphinx! I am Fox Carlyle, your guide through this world of magic and wonder where you will see things that no mere mortal has ever seen before. Myself and my family will astound you till you feel your soul has been lifted." He grinned charismatically then turned to the singer. "Laurena! Sing for me my songbird of the world!"

As the singer did begin to sing once more, the show carried on, each of the acts before now able to perform something else to their own song.

In the audience, Sesshomaru and Rin kept on commenting to each other as they guessed or worked out what spells the demons were using to create the illusions. It took a little of the mystery from the show but they were enjoying picking it apart.

As time went on, and each act had their time, Fox finally stepped forwards. "And now, for our grand finale."

Two of the tumblers brought a large colourful box out from the back of the stage while another provided a chair and the other three carried two swords each.

Fox turned to the audience as his troop set up for the final act. "Now, a volunteer from the audience."

A few of the younger children were quick to put their hands up but Fox didn't look at them, instead going over the adults before his eyes settled on Rin. "You, the young lady on the forth row!"

Quickly Rin counted and realised he was referring to her, even more when the water demon was at her side, holding out his hand for her.

She placed her fingers in his grip and he pulled her forwards, missing Sesshomaru glaring and sitting tensely in his seat but everyone else just clapped as she was taken up. Fox held out his hand to help her up to the stage. "Well my dear, what is your name?"

"Rin sir."

"And have you enjoyed the show tonight?"

"Yes, I've never seen anything like it."

"I'm glad to hear it. Now tell me, what do you do for a living?"

At that, Rin grinned a little at him. "I work in Master Tarnanok's shop."

At the mention of the demon, all of the performers shifted a bit apart from Fox who just smiled more. "I see. So you are surrounded by magic a lot?"

"Every day."

"Well then, as a human, you can't do magic normally." He said turning to the audience. "But tonight, Rin, you, a human will do magic as you vanish from this stage!"

Rin had to bite her lip not to laugh at his statement and how wrong he was. But then he turned back to her and reached into his pocket, pulling out a beautiful golden necklace with a massive medallion in the middle that was decorated with several gemstones. "This is the totem of Demonic energy!" He said dramatically. "It will grant the wearer temporary powers, giving them strength, speed and most importantly, Magic!"

Rin looked at the thing and smiled. It was metal but the 'gems' were useless bits of stone with no magical property in them. But she decided to play along. "Wow, that's amazing!"

"Indeed! Not even the great Master Tarnanok has such a thing! Now my dear, if you can put this on you, we will transform you!" He said then held the chain open for her and placed it over her neck. "And now Rin, if you would be so kind as to take a seat on this chair?" She did and then found the box was slowly lowered down on top of her.

On the outside, the Fox turned to the crowd. "Now, Miss Rin can you still hear me?"

"Yeah!" Her voice came back, slightly muffled by the box.

"Right, then I want you to concentrate on the necklace. It will give you the strength to bend the metal of these swords my assistants are going to impale into the box."

In the audience, many of them gasping as the first sword was pushed into the box but there wasn't a sound from inside. Several more where stabbed in and Sesshomaru felt himself tense with each one.

Finally, when the box looked more and more like a pin cushion, Fox grinned turned to the audience. "And now, ladies and gentlemen, the greatest test of the totem!"

He waved a hand to the side, the air filling with music that kept building higher and higher while one of the two twin demon came out and held out his hand towards the box, rings of fire coming from his hand and began to burn the box, the metal of the swords melting in the intense heat.

Sesshomaru gasped loudly and stood up as he watched the last parts burn away revealing the empty chair Rin had been sat in. "Where is she!" He shouted out suddenly, drawing everyone's attention as he stormed up to the stage and grabbed the magician by the scruff of his shirt. "You tell me where she is! RIGHT NOW! Or I swear I will rip your head off! So WHERE IS SHE!"

"Sesshomaru!"

He turned suddenly at the voice and watched as Rin came storming over from the back, near where the entrance was, completely fine apart from her anger filled expression. "Sesshomaru, you let him go right now!"

"Rin, you're okay." Sesshomaru said as he released the magician and looked her over. "You're not hurt."

"There was a teleport spell inside the box." She huffed. "I was out of there just a seconds the box went down. It was part of the show! Were you really thinking they would burn me?"

"I…"

"You ruined the finale of the show!" She huffed then turned, walking away, heading as fast as she could back towards the town and home, ignoring the audience as she walked past them.

Sesshomaru soon ran after her. "Rin, wait!"

"Sesshomaru, you have no idea how embarrassing that was." She snapped, turning to look at him. "I had a chance to be part of the show! And you went and ruined it. For what reason? Because you just… what? I thought you and I were starting to get along. And then you go and do a thing like that?"

"Rin… I was just worried."

"It was a show! Even I knew I wouldn't be hurt! Seriously! Talk about over reacting!"

"Look… I don't know what came over me. I just… lost control."

She turned and glared at him. "You should know better! In all the time I've known you, you have never lost your cool like that! Why now? What caused this?"

Glaring at her, the demon frowned, keeping her in sight for a moment then grabbed her arm, pulling her into him, his other hand around the back of her neck, forcing her right up to his face until his lips were on hers.

Eyes wide at his sudden actions, Rin struggled a little to escape his grasp but he was too strong to hold her even as she pushed on his shoulder to let her go. He shifted a little, changing the angle of the contact but still remaining locked on hers, his hand running down her neck softly to her shoulder.

Rin was still struggling against him but more for the fact that she couldn't breathe, something Sesshomaru appeared to realise as well as he pulled back a little from her lips, licking his own softly.

The human looked up at him, panting for breath, wanting to say something but at that moment, words failed her, she just felt lost in his gaze. After a moment, he gave a slight smile and leant into her once more, gentler than before but still firm and determined. This time however, Rin found herself pressing up into him as well, her hands reaching up for his neck and hair, daring to run her fingers back in his soft locks and feeling him squeeze her tighter.

She felt his hands gently hold her, his caress soft and supporting as they stood in the street, lips locked together. Eventually, they let go of each other and stared but Rin was the one to look away first. "Come on. Let's go home."

* * *

**_Well? You have some adventure, some pain and some kisses in this part? I hope you liked it! Don't forget to review!_**


	19. Part 7: Yuksel Chapter 1

**Part 7: Yuksel (16 Years old - September) Chapter 1**

Following the events at the travelling show, Rin wasn't sure how she felt about it all. Her feelings seamed to switch between confused, angry, joyful and concerned. Her previous time with the demon had always been with him hating her, insulting her for being human, cursing her name for being there and treating her like dirt. She kept reminding herself that he once tricked her into the human world which would have killed her.

But now he was completely different. One day while making a potion she had inhaled the ground Lunar Bamboo and it made her cough yet only a few seconds later there was a glass of water to help ease the irritation, presented by the demon. A few days later, Kusu had asked her to come shopping with her and Sesshomaru had insisted on coming with them even if he was bored stiff for most of the afternoon, his attention only picking up when they went to the potion shop.

Normally at dinner he would sit next to Tarn as far from Rin as he could get however, now he insisted on sitting beside her and when he spoke to her it was kind, curious about how she was feeling and what was on her mind. She was certain a couple of times he tried to flirt with her but he was so bad at it she might have been mistaken.

If Kusu and Tarn were concerned or noticed the change in him, they said nothing about it and Rin couldn't bring herself to confront him on his actions so instead chose to avoid him wherever possible.

One afternoon the housekeeper had sent her upstairs to change the beds and bring down the washing in each room, a task Rin had done many times before as she piled the washing into a large basket and put fresh ones out. Finally the only room left to do was the silver demons but she knew he was out with Tarn that day on a mission from the council.

As she shook the fresh bedding and neatened it, she heard something clatter at the end. Looking, she saw she had accidentally caught a small table and knocked something off it. Hurrying to put it back, she found it was a small disk with a black and white side and on the table were several others, each one sat on the cross point between two lines on a grid while in the middle was a single gold coin.

Frowning, Rin looked to try and work out where the coin in her hand had come from but unable to get what this was.

"What are you doing to my Mobach board?"

She gasped and turned to see Sesshomaru entering his room, removing his sword and putting it on the side while he took his coat and threw it onto the freshly made bed.

Rin swallowed as she tried to hide the coin behind her back. "You are back early."

"It was an easy hunt." He explained. "So, why are you in my room?"

"Kusu sent me to change the beds."

"And… why are you messing with my game?"

"This is a game?" She said, desperate to keep the subject off her clumsiness.

Nodding, Sesshomaru walked over and looked at the game before frowning and staring at her, holding out his hand. After a moment, she relented and passed over the coin she had knocked off. "Yes." He continued, placing the coin back in one spot. "The aim is to turn all the coins over around the gold one to match your colour. You can play it against yourself or an opponent. It requires for thinking and a concentration."

"Could you teach me how to play?" Rin asked before thinking. She was trying to stay away from him, not spend more time with him.

But when the demon smiled at her, she couldn't help but want to be there. "I'd be delighted to teach you Rin. But it's not an easy game to learn."

"I can at least try. If I can learn how to make a Dream Inducement potion, I can learn how to play… what did you call it?"

"Mobach. And alright, if you think you can handle it. Pull up a chair and I will teach you."

They sat on either side of the board and Sesshomaru reset the game, starting off with the gold in the middle and an alternating pattern of black and white disks around it. Then he explained the rules, about how on one go you could only place a coin anywhere but only turned coins vertically from it one time and on the next go horizontally, a small arrow on the side of the board helping to remember which way was next.

It was simple by nature but complicated to play, always thinking where they would go and what their opponent would do. Rin had to concentrate really hard for the first few games but by the forth go, she was making a lot less mistakes and lasting a lot longer. Sesshomaru didn't go easy on her and continued to beat her for the fifth game.

As they reset, Rin looked at him then down as she placed her first coin. "Did Tarn teach you how to play Mobach?"

Sesshomaru snorted rudely. "Master Tarn is a great demon but he has no head for Mobach. I think I played him three times and then he refused to play me again."

"I see. So who did teach you how to play?"

"Master Sitra, my sword master."

"Sword master?"

"Yes."

"I don't understand, you have a sword master and Master Tarn? I thought a student can only have one master at a time."

Glancing up, the demon frowned at her. "You don't know the difference?"

"There is a difference?"

"Huge." He sighed, placing down his marker and turning over those going up. "Master Tarn is a potion and magic master while Master Sitra is a sword master."

"And what is the difference?"

"Sword verse magic." He said, giving her a flat stare.

"But don't all demons do magic?"

"All demons have magic but only some learn how to use it for more than the basic things. Others turn their time to the sword or bow or other skills. I know one demon who specialises in clothes. Game." He said as he turned over the last coin and claimed the gold one.

Rin swore then sighed. "Another?"

"Only because I like watching you lose."

"I will beat you." She promised as she helped put the tokens back. "But why do some demons choose not to learn magic?"

"It is a very personal choice. Some demons are pushed into learning by family, magic is after all our greatest skill and weapon. To be a master of magic and potions is a great honour to many families. But if you learn magic, you have to register with the council and obey any order they give you, or else become hunted until killed or captured. Some demons don't like the idea of having to obey the council."

"I see." She said, watching him and the board for a moment. "Were you pushed into learning magic?"

He paused then placed down his coin and turned some over. "That is a very private question."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked." She said, looking down slightly. "You don't have to tell me."

They were quiet for a bit, the only sound being the coins as they were turned back and forth. Finally Sesshomaru sighed. "I had no other choice."

Rin had to think what he meant, her mind had almost forgotten the earlier question. "So… you were pushed?"

"No." He exhaled softly. "Demons aren't like humans, Rin. Some… some will hold their young close for a long time, protect them and help them. But some… when they reach a certain age… will throw them out and let them defend for themselves."

"Wait… you mean your family threw you out?"

"I knew it was coming, my older brother and sisters had been made to leave too so I was prepared for the separation but that didn't make it easier. I didn't know what I wanted to do with myself so I wandered for a while, finding work where I could. I even went to the human world for a while but eventually I found myself here, in Dryshore." He leant back in his chair and looked out the window for a bit. "I worked on a farm for a while when one day a demon was hurt and they sent for Master Tarn. I saw him work and decided I would try and become his student. I was lucky, his last one recently moved on and he saw promise in me so took me in on a month's trial." He smiled a little. "That was over 50 years ago."

"You don't look 50."

"I'm over 200 Rin. As everyone always says, time is so strange here… but demons naturally live longer than humans. We can make it to 5000 if we are strong enough and look after ourselves."

"Tarn is over 1200."

"And he is still young." Sesshomaru said with a nod then frowned at her. "I'm surprised you didn't know these things Rin."

"There aren't many books on the subject. And I wouldn't want to read about it anyway. But tell me, what do you plan for the future?"

Placing his coin, Sesshomaru shrugged. "Well, eventually I plan on becoming a master myself, of the sword or potions I haven't decided yet but I figure working with Master Tarn is a good way to build a name for myself. That way, if I decide to move on… maybe open my own store or become a mercenary, I will have a name. I haven't really decided what I will do in the future. As the council say, we live fully in the here and now."

Rin looked at him then down at the game. "I think that is a good motto to live by. I… I don't think much about the future. Since I don't know how much I have. I live for the here and now." She placed her coin and for a moment she thought she had won but then Sesshomaru placed his and turned the coins so the ring around the gold was black.

"I win."

"Dam it! I was so close!"

"Yes, that was. But you forgot about the defence."

"One last game before dinner?"

He looked at her then smiled. "How about a wager?"

"What?"

"Winner of the next game gets a wish of their choosing."

"Is that really fair?" the human asked, scrunching up her nose. "I mean, you have had years to learn how to play and I've only had a few hours."

"I'll go easy on you if you like."

"I'll believe that when I see it."

"Come on Rin." He said, holding out his hand. "Imagine what you could have with a wish."

She looked at him for a while before sighing and shook his hand. "Fine." She said as they reset the board once more.

Half way in, just as Rin was getting a lead, there was a knock at the door and Kusu stepped in, huffing as she did. "There you are Rin. I sent you to get the washing hours ago."

"Sorry Kusu, Sesshomaru was teaching me how to play Mobach."

"Oh?" She said, looking at them and the game. "Well, it's good to see you two getting along."

"I'll come help you with the washing if you want."

"No, you stay and finish your game. You already changed the beds so I just need to take the basket downstairs. Besides, it's good for you to have a hobby besides reading and potions." She smiled, gathering up the sheets and heading for the door. "Just don't be late for dinner."

"We won't." Rin chuckled, watching the door close before turning to the game. "Now, where were we?"

Sesshomaru watched her then the game, making sure she followed the rules but also just watching her, taking in the little things while also plotting his next move. A few minutes later and Sesshomaru had the lead, closing in around the coin. Rin fought back and for a moment had the lead again but in five moves, the coin was surrounded in black. "Well, looks like I win." He said, rolling the gold coin between his fingers.

"Good game though." Rin said as she leant back in her chair with a sigh. "I enjoy playing this. You are a good teacher."

"You are a quick learner." He praised as he put the coin down and stood up, going to the side and picking up a small box. "We will have to play again some time." Once back at the table, he began to put the coins inside it, Rin helping tidy them up. Once he was done, he shut the lid and turned to her. "Now, about my prize."

She glanced up at him with a little surprise. "Oh… yeah… the wish of your choice." She swallowed then looked up at him as he moved closer, one hand on the table while the other was on the back of her chair. Leaning back, she felt her mouth go dry and her heart skip a beat at his sudden proximity, trying to get as far as she could from him while being seated. "I… I guess… we did have an agreement."

"And you should always keep your word." He reminded her, the edge of his lips curling upwards as he stared at her. "So… Rin, my wish."

Swallowing hard, Rin tried not to concentrate on the way he said her name, the deepness of his voice and gaze as he stood over her. Eventually she found the ability to speak once again as she looked for somewhere that wasn't him but it was like he was taking up all the space in the world. "S-so… so what is it?"

Two fingers gently reached out to her chin, turning her head to face him and look into her eyes, moving ever so slowly towards her. "You already know what I want." He whispered.

Staring at him, Rin could feel her stomach twist and her mind spin, suddenly glad she was still sat down as she was sure her legs would have given way otherwise. "I… Sesshomaru… I…" She tried but looking at him, so close, his cold touch on her chin slowly moving to cup her cheek, guiding her forwards.

He was so close now, she could feel his breath on her lips, staring at her with a want to be closer still but holding back, his lips parted as he moved his thumb back and forth on her cheek. Eventually giving in, Rin tipped her head and closed the small gap between them, her lips caressing his while her eyes fluttered closed, the moan he gave travelling straight into her.

She instantly remembered how good this had felt before but this time it was a hundred times better, feeling the warmth and affection as she began to move her lips against his, returning the feelings this silent caress was conveying. Her hand reached up and cupped his cheek as he was hers while the other held his forearm, gripping the fabric of his shirt tight.

A small moan escaped as he pressed harder on her lips and pulled her towards him, up out of her seat and to her feet, standing with her so the kiss never broke, his hand moving to her hair and to her hip while Rin also knotted her fingers in his silken locks.

They parted for a short breath but then returned, meeting in the middle as they both wanted to continue the sensation the contact was giving them, the sparks and wonder of this never ending moment. In all her life, Rin couldn't remember ever feeling so much joy and comfort and passion as she did in right then. As the kissing continued and showed no sign of stopping, Sesshomaru started to walk backwards, still holding her close so he could caress her lips over and over again. He moved carefully so not to trip over anything until he got to the bed where Rin stepped back into it and fell onto the soft bedding.

For a while, Sesshomaru just stood where he was, looking at her as she pushed herself up, her hair a ruffled mess and her lips swollen from his kiss, even her shirt appeared ruffled from where he had been holding onto it. Licking his lips, he knelt down on the bed so he was on top of her once more, brushing his cheek and nose against the side of her head and her neck, sighing as he did.

Feeling his breath on her, Rin closed her eyes and tried not to wiggle but she still felt a pleased sigh escape her but then a twinge of confusion. "Sesshomaru… I'm… I'm not sure about this."

"Why?" He asked as he pulled back from her neck steadily and looked at her. "What's wrong?"

"I just…" She said then swallowed. "This all feels… so fast. I mean… a few weeks ago you couldn't stand me. And now… I don't understand why you are suddenly like this."

Thinking over her words, the demon looked down at the sheets before finally shaking his head, sitting back on his haunches. "Honestly Rin, I have no idea why I feel this way. Why I went from hating you to feeling this… this warmth when near you. The way I feel jealous when another is near you, the wish to have you at my side… I can't explain where these feelings came from but I know I have them. These last few weeks, all I have wanted is to be near you." He sighed once more, deeper, leaning back towards her until his nose trailed down hers. "Right now, the only thing I am sure of is that there is no where I would rather be than right here with you."

Her body tensed on his words, the soft real tone of his voice and the way his eyes only glanced at her when he was finished, as if saying the words a truth he didn't want to admit. Her face flushed red as she looked at him yet he had no such reaction, just reached for her neck once more, lifting her head so they could kiss again, pushing her back onto the bed as he knelt over her.

She wasn't sure how long they were there but they were forced to stop when Tarn shouted up that dinner was ready downstairs. After looking at each other for a while, Sesshomaru was the one to sigh as he pecked her cheeks and lips. "We better get down there. And… you might want to brush your hair before you do." He suggested as he climbed off her and the bed, going to a mirror to check his own appearance.

Rin watched him for a moment then decided to go to her own room, smoothing down her hair and corrected her top that had been pushed up before she headed for the stairs. She was a little surprised to find Sesshomaru waiting for her but as she approached he gave a smile, reaching out for her hand before kissing the back gently, not saying a word as he headed downstairs for the evening meal.

Conversation was oddly easy, Rin talking mostly about Mobach and Tarn complaining about how he couldn't get his head around it. After the meal, Rin said her goodnights and headed to her room to sleep yet as the hours went on, she found herself lying awake in bed, gazing at the roof, her mind reliving those few minutes over and over, certain they had been a lot longer than minutes. She thought about how it made her head spin and her stomach drop, even now, thinking about it was giving her the same effect. Softly she placed her fingers to her lips and closed her eyes, imagining he was there.

Almost as she felt herself drift off to sleep, something moved behind her. Startled, she sat up but was met by Sesshomaru sitting on the side of her bed, his hand soon reaching up for her neck as he pulled her in for a kiss. As blissful as it was, Rin soon pushed him back. "Sesshomaru, what are you doing in here?"

"I wanted to be closer to you." He whispered as he leant over for another kiss.

Turning away, Rin glared at him. "It's the middle of the night."

"What better time to sleep?" He smirked, kissing her neck.

"Sesshomaru… what if Tarn or Kusu hear us?"

"I put a silencing spell on the room, no one will hear us." He sighed, pressing his head to her neck before wrapping his arm around her waist. "Come, lie down."

Blushing at his words but also at his touch, Rin decided to just let it be and let him pull her to the bed, allowing his arms to wrap around her and her back to rest on him. She could feel the warmth and kindness in him as he pulled the sheet up over them and sighed contently into her ear. Smiling, she soon found the sleep that had been avoiding her earlier as she drifted of, holding the hand tight in her gasp.

Several hours later, she opened her eyes slowly to the pleasant feeling of someone running fingers gently back in her hair, looking up to see the demon lying beside her, an air of relaxation around him. "Morning." She greeted with a sigh.

"Morning wiggles."

"Wiggles?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You wiggled all night. I had to practically pin you down to get any rest myself."

Blushing, Rin pulled the sheet up to hide her face. "I can't believe you stayed in my bed all night."

"I told you, I wanted to be near you." He explained, shifting back then over, kneeling over her once more and pulling her protective blanket away so he could reach and kiss her, leaning down as it grew more passionate.

Just as Rin found herself moaning and messing with his hair even more, there was a loud knock at her door. "Hey, Sesshomaru, you still joining me to go collect edranus? We need to get going if we are."

Dragging himself away from the teen below him, Sesshomaru looked over his shoulder at the door. "I'll be there in a moment." Sesshomaru shouted out but then realised his mistake, looking back at Rin as she also realised it.

She bit her lip then managed a small smile. "I think you need to work on your silencing spell."


	20. Part 7: Yuksel Chapter 2

**Part 7: Yuksel (16 Years old - September) Chapter 2**

Rin wasn't quite sure how she felt about the whole situation between herself and Sesshomaru but she was happy with the feelings that the demon inspired within her. Often he would hold her hand or look at her in a way that made her heart skip, even if she could barely look at him if their eyes met but there was still a cautious nature to her actions around him.

One afternoon, Rin was stood in the shop, dusting under each item carefully when she felt a shiver run down her spine and saw Sesshomaru walking in with a tray of new potions from the back. His eyes glanced at hers as he placed them on the counter. "How goes the day Rin?"

She looked back at her work and sighed. "Slow. Barely any business today."

"Days like that happen." He chuckled, walking over and hugging her from behind. "I hope you weren't too bored." He whispered with his head resting on her shoulder and his arms held her.

Rin smiled at his contact but as he kissed her neck gently, she forced him back and turned around. "Sesshomaru, what if someone comes in?"

He did lean back a bit to look at her, smiling. "I guess it would be unprofessional." He said, stepping away so he was only holding her hand.

"Aren't you worried?"

"Worried?"

"I mean, about people seeing us together."

The demon blinked, a little confused by her statement. "What do you mean? Why would I be worried about people seeing us?"

"Are you that dense?" She huffed, looking away from him. "I've lived here most of my life and I've never seen a human demon relationship."

It took a moment but then he chuckled softly, moving back in, placing his lips to her forehead. "They are out there Rin, but they are mostly in the human world. There isn't a law forbidding it and… yes, some people disapprove of them. And it is rare for it to happen since they can be so… difficult."

"Time." She guessed.

"Yes. For every year that a demon ages, a human ages almost ten. It makes relationships very difficult. So most of them go to the human world, where they feel time passing and it feels longer, even if it's the same amount of time." He sighed softly and kissed her brow again. "The only thing we need to worry about is Kusu and Tarn finding out."

"But they already know."

"I know they do. Hence why we don't need to worry."

Thinking it over, she chuckled and leant her head onto his chest. "I am glad to hear it."

Looking down on her, the silver haired demon smiled. "Tell you what, why don't we go on a picnic."

"Picnic?"

"Business is quiet. And it's a nice day." He shrugged. "We could pop to the market, grab some food and just go for a break."

Pushing back slightly, she frowned up at him. "Would Tarn be alright with that?"

"He'll be fine with it. So, why don't you go and get your coat and I will check with the others."

Surrendering to the idea of an afternoon off, Rin nodded. "Alright. Meet you out front in five minutes?"

"See you then."

Slipping out the back, Rin went to her room, grabbing a short jacket coat and scarf and freshened up her whole appearance before heading to the front. Sesshomaru was waiting out front with a small bundle under his arm and his own coat on, smiling at her.

"We have to be back in three hours." He explained and held out his arm. "So, let's get going."

Smiling, Rin held his hand and they walked side by side towards the town. Even if he had told her that their relationship wouldn't be objected to, Rin still looked at those that passed them, not letting go of Sesshomaru's hand as she did. And just as Sesshomaru had said, not one person sneered or looked repulsed or anything at them being together.

They shopped for a few minutes, picking up bread, fruit and some drinks and chocolates then headed out of town to the forest, keeping to the track as they left the town of Dryshore further behind them. As they passed a load of trees, they decided to leave the road and go down a narrow footpath that was probably only used by animals.

With the trickier path, Sesshomaru used every chance he could find to keep Rin safe, worrying about tripping and insisting to carry or lift her over the barriers they faced. Rin was sure he was just doing it to hold her or show how strong he was.

They walked until they came across a small glen with a ring of short round stones with a single slightly taller, flatter one stood in the middle. Rin walked towards them and knelt down, rubbing away dirt and grass to see that the stones had small engravings on them. "Whoa. This is a seeker's circle." She chuckled. "I've read about these. Before they invented pointers, this was the only way to find things."

"I thought they had all been lost." Sesshomaru hummed as he looked over them as well. "Never thought I would find one."

"Was that a joke?" She asked as she ran her fingers over the engraving. "I mean, 'Never thought you would find a seeking circle'?"

"I didn't mean it as a joke. But this is a nice spot to stop and I'm getting hungry."

"Me too." She smiled then moved over to help him set up the blanket and their meal.

Using the seeker stones to lean on, they sat and ate for a bit, talking as they did about anything that came to their minds, laughing at the funny stories they told each other. As Rin reached out for the last chocolate from the box, a hand wrapped around hers, stilling her.

"Rin…" Sesshomaru sighed as he looked at her hand. "This is long overdue but… I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"How I acted to you before. How… horrid I was to you and… how cruel. It wasn't very becoming."

Rin couldn't believe what she was hearing; Sesshomaru. Apologising. In all the years she had known him, he never apologised for anything. With a smile, she leant over and kissed his cheek. "It's okay, we were both pretty immature back then."

"You were a literal child. I was a grown demon. It didn't…"

"Sesshomaru, stop it." She sighed, kissing his neck gently. "I forgive you and that's all that matters."

Smiling, he pulled her a little closer. "Yeah. That is all that matters." He whispered before leaning over and kissing her once more. Rin smiled as she let her fingers run back in his hair, admiring how he could still be the same man of her childhood but suddenly change so much.

After a short but meaningful kiss in the glen, they settled back to just sit and enjoy the quiet of the forest. Yet that quiet was disturbed by a soft tinkle like sound. Sesshomaru opened his eyes first and looked for the cause but when he saw nothing, closed them again.

Moments later, Rin sat up and frowned. "Can you hear that?"

"The little bell sound? Yes, but I don't know where it's coming from."

Moving to stand up, she looked around before heading in one direction. "Sounds like it's coming from this way." She said, heading towards it once more.

"Wait, Rin." He called out, stepping over and holding her arm. "You don't know what it could be. Anything could be out there."

"Come on Sesshomaru. You can't say you're not curious."

He stared at her then out to the forest as the sounds filled the air again. "Fine. But stay close to me." He huffed, reaching down to the picnic blanket, picking up a small knife they had used to cut the bread and fruit.

Rin quirked a brow at him. "Really?"

"I left my sword at the Sapphire Rune." He explained as they slowly walked towards the forest. "And I won't let anything happen to you."

Rin rolled her eyes but then went into the greenery, pushing the branches aside as carefully as she could before spotting something move just ahead of them. Letting out a small gasp, Rin peaked around a tree and smiled. "Sesshomaru." She whispered with excitement. "Look!"

Looking as well, Sesshomaru also gasped, moving to her side to look over her shoulder. "Whoa. Are those…"

"Brylets." Rin chuckled. "By the gods, those are Brylets."

Ahead of them was a large bush covered with pink berries while fluttering between the leaves and branches were at least a dozen tiny creatures, no bigger than a finger and like tiny horses with bright fluorescent wings that they beat slowly to keep flying around.

Kneeling down, Rin smiled as she watched. "I never thought I would ever see a Brylet, let alone a whole pack of them."

"It's said just seeing one is meant to bring you good luck."

"I remember reading about them. People used to catch them, keep them in cages as pets." She whispered, watching a few of the creatures interact with each other. "You're not going to try and catch one are you?"

He huffed at her with a fond smile. "I learnt my lesson from the Risuin. Wild things are meant to remain in the wild." He promised then turned from her to the creatures, glancing back to look at her as she watched with fascination. "See those ones with the thicker coats? The ones that keep rearing up? They're the males."

"So the others, with the longer manes…"

"Are females. I think this might be their mating season."

"Amazing."

They knelt in on the grass and watched for a while before Sesshomaru suddenly blinked. "Rin, don't move."

Freezing, her eyes slowly moved to his. "What is it?" She whispered, watching him as he slowly reached above her head.

After a moment, he pulled his hand slowly so it was between them. Stood on the back of his hand was a tiny Brylets, its coat a gentle sky blue colour, its wings slowly folding in and out while from its mouth was a curled tube that was licking at Sesshomaru's skin.

Rin stared at it with wide eyes. "This is amazing." She whispered, scared to move in case it flew away. "They are nectar feeders… so why is it licking your hand?"

Sesshomaru shook his head, trying to keep his hand as still as possible. "I don't know. Maybe I still have some honey from our lunch on my hand?"

"Maybe. But this is amazing. It doesn't appear bothered by us at all."

"Too hungry by the look of it."

"But this is absolutely amazing." She sighed, her hand hovering just over it. "I wonder if I could…" she said then gently touched the tiny back but as soon as she made contact, it flew off into the air. Rin pouted a bit but then smiled and turned to the other. "We should probably head home. Tarn is never going to believe that we saw a whole pack of Brylets!"


	21. Part 7: Yuksel Chapter 3

**Part 7: Yuksel (16 Years old - September) Chapter 3**

It had been getting worse for days but now it was unbearable. Rin was inside the bathroom and he couldn't bring himself to leave the door, wishing he could be inside with her but he couldn't. He couldn't leave the door, finding himself pacing back and forth, waiting for her.

He leant his ear against the wood but he had a feeling Rin had cast a silencer on the door so he couldn't listen in.

"Sesshomaru?" He looked up and saw Tarn was walking up the stairs, looking at him with confusion. "What are you doing?"

"I don't know. I can't bring myself… to leave her." He glanced at the bathroom door. "Rin is in there and I can't bring myself to leave. I just want to… to be there, with her. I don't know why but… this is driving me nuts."

The emerald haired demon blinked at the other then hummed, looking over him. "I see." He stepped closer to the other then nodded. "Come to my study Sesshomaru. That is an order."

Although it hurt to do so, Sesshomaru followed him back downstairs, through the main entry and to the demon's study, Tarn going to his desk and nodded. "So… you keep feeling the urge to be near Rin? Uncontrollable? And it's been growing stronger?"

"Yes. Even now I feel the urge to return to her side."

"I see." He hummed and held out his hand, mumbling a spell. "Ah, figured as much."

"What is it?" The demon said as he looked around.

"Look." The master said and pointed to the top of his leg.

Glancing down as well, he spotted a pale pink mark of a spell on the top of his thigh. Eyes widening, he looked at it with horror. "What!"

"Looks like you have a little spell on you."

Sesshomaru glared as he looked at the spell then huffed. "There is a spell on me! And you never thought to mention it?"

"I never noticed before now." The master said with a nod. "It is a very subtle spell. I never would have noticed if your behaviour hadn't suddenly changed."

"Who put this one me? Who cast it?"

Tarn looked for a while then his eyes went wide. "Rin."

"What?!"

"Rin has a very unique mark to her spells, probably due to her being human. And that spell has her mark on it."

The demon glared at the pink mark then held out his hand, mumbling a spell to break it but as his own took form above it, the pink mark remained. Growling, he turned to the master. "Break it!"

Tarn nodded then held out his own hand, repeating the same spell as Sesshomaru and watching it go from his leg to hover over his hand. "Impressive. She did really well to create this. And so simple."

"It's a love spell isn't it?" Sesshomaru snapped, pacing. "That's why I've been acting so strange! She put a spell on me to make me fall in love with her! It's the only way to explain it!" He huffed loudly. "Why else would I fall for a human like her?"

"Love spell?" Tarn said, taking his eyes off the mark. "Sesshomaru if you think this is a love spell you need to study spell formatting some more."

"What?"

"This is a spell of protection. It drives the person it is cast on it to stay near the caster, to protect them at all costs. It has nothing to do with manipulating feelings of love." He tapped the spell in his hand and made it concentrate on one part. "See? Right here. That is the symbol for 'protect'. It's in the very format language I was teaching Rin two months ago, just before she went through that rift and collapsed. Which is about as old as this spell is."

"It's that old?"

"I would guess that while she was unconscious she felt vulnerable and cast the spell to ensure her safety. It's been known to happen in the past." He smiled a little as he examined the spell. "But to do it so delicately. I never would have spotted it and you certainly didn't."

"But that doesn't explain why I love her!"

"Doesn't it?" Tarn questioned with a smirk. "This spell only drove you to be near her, to protect her. It didn't stop you calling her names or teasing her. It only meant that if something wanted to hurt her, you would try to stop it. I swear on Reamann, this did nothing to make you feel anything towards Rin but to protect her."

The demon soon sat down on a chair near him. "So… what do I do now?"

"What do you mean?"

"All this time I thought I loved Rin… but what if it's just the spell."

Tarn nodded as he looked at the spell in his hand. "That is a fine question. After all, we strive to protect those we love but do we strive to love those we protect? Rin may have made you want to protect her but did that lead you to love her or was it your own feelings that did." Putting the spell down, the master sighed. "But sadly it is a question only you can answer."

"But I don't know how I feel about her now. I don't know if my feelings are… my own or from the spell."

The master demon looked at him then away to his desk. "That is something I can't help you with." He sighed. "Only you can decide how you feel."

Sesshomaru sat on the chair and thought in silence for a bit, thinking it over but then finally he let out a breath. "I need to leave."

"What?"

"I need to get away from her." The demon sighed. "I need to get away from Rin. I need time to work out if my feelings are my own or… from this spell."

Tarn turned to him. "Do you really think that is the way to do this?"

"It's the only way. I know that she is not controlling or manipulating me but I need to be sure of my thoughts and feelings."

Having taken a moment to think, Tarn sighed and nodded. "Very well. If that is your choice. When will you leave?"

"Immediately."

"Where will you go?"

"I don't know. Just away from here." He sighed, standing up. "But if I can make a request?"

"What is it?"

"Do not tell Rin or Kusu about this. About the spell or why I'm leaving."

The demon glared at him then nodded. "Very well. If that is your wish."

"Thank you. I need to go and pack." He sighed, standing and going back to his room. Grabbing a bag from under his bed, filling it with some clothes and other supplies before grabbing something from the wall, a sword with a narrow blade with a curved guard that he attached to his belt before pulling a coat on over the top.

Once sure he had everything he would need, he headed back downstairs before running into Rin and Kusu in the kitchen eating breakfast. Looking at him with the bag, coat and sword, the two women blinked. "Wait… why are you dressed like that Sesshomaru?"

"Sesshomaru?" Rin asked softly confused.

Unable to look her in the eye, Sesshomaru sighed. "There is a group of mercenaries in town. They offered me a place with them."

"And you're going to take it?" Kusu gasped, standing up. "Sesshomaru, you can't just up and go."

"I don't have time to explain." He said, brushing quickly past them both and towards the door.

Kusu didn't say anything as he went towards the front but Rin was fast to follow, grabbing the demon by the arm. "Sesshomaru? What's going on? Why are you suddenly leaving?"

He didn't look at her, keeping his back turned. "I just need to get away for a while."

"When will you be back?"

"I don't know."

With an uncertain gulp, Rin released his arm. "I see."

"I'm sorry Rin." He said, hurrying out of the shop without looking back or another word said.

Once he was gone, Rin stood alone and couldn't help but be confused by what had just happened. After a moment she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked to see Tarn beside her. "You okay Rin?"

"He didn't even say why he was leaving. He just… left."

"I know."

"Will he be back?"

The demon looked towards the door and nodded. "I hope so."

* * *

**A/N: New chapter! Wooh! Hope you like it! Only a few left!  
**

**Oh and a shout out to Mia Montes; thanks for your review but I don't know what language you wrote in! Any chance you could write it again in english?**


	22. Part 8: Morone Chapter 1

**Part 8: Morone (17 Years old - October) Chapter 1**

Distance was the only way Sesshomaru could think of resolving his internal turmoil, the constant conflicting emotions, feelings and memories. He had spent several weeks going over his every interaction with the human, trying to work out if his feelings were really his or from the spell.

Finally he thought he had his answer but decided he needed to test his theory. So he headed for a large building towards the edge of the city, no windows or displays to show what was inside or on sale, just an orange sign with no writing on it that hung above the door.

After standing and looking at the door for a while, he sighed and headed inside, finding himself in a small well decorate room with a woman sat at the front desk in a black and orange low cut dress, smiling at him. "Welcome sir to the Golden Pleasure." She said, her voice as sultry as her dress. "How can we please you today?"

For a moment the demon felt himself falter but then decided he need to know for sure. "I'm looking for something very specific."

"Oh? Well I'm sure we can help you."

"A human. About 17 years old. Brown eyes and black hair."

The woman thought then nodded. "I have just the girl for you sir. If you will follow me I will go get her for you."

From the entrance room, he was led down a short hallway, up some stairs and to a room with the curtains drawn, a strong perfumed smell in the air while the furniture was set around a plush double bed that was in the middle of the room. The woman from the entrance nodded to him politely. "Just wait here sir, I won't be long."

Left alone, the demon walked around the room, looking over it all, wondering if he was doing the right thing after all. Just as his fears got the better of him, there was a knock at the door and a young woman matching his description came in. "Hello sir."

The demon swallowed the heart that had just jumped into his mouth on seeing her; her hair was long and loose down her back, dressed in a short black and orange dress that had panels cut out of the side to reveal her skin and left very little to the imagination. Her eyes were slightly lighter and narrower than what he was looking for but it was enough of a match.

Stepping over to her, he lifted his hand to cup her cheek, letting his fingers run back in her hair, opening his mouth to speak but finding the words avoided him so instead he pulled her into him, pressing his lips to hers.

The woman appeared stunned by his sudden actions but soon got to her trade, returning his caress and attention, trying to press him towards the bed but the demon didn't move unless he wanted to. When he did, he easily picked her up and took her to the bed, collapsing down on top of her, without breaking the kiss.

As she moaned, he pulled back a little, eyes closed as he leant towards her ear, kissing her neck while whispering the name 'Rin' as he did.

The woman below him didn't react to the name, just continued to run her hands back in his hair and kiss his cheek but as she did, Sesshomaru froze and back off, standing and looking at her; sat on the bed, looking up at him, panting hard and with an expression of confusion.

Finally, feeling something twist and knot in his stomach, the demon shook his head. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come here. It was wrong."

"You love her." The woman said with a nod.

"Yes. I thought I was over her but…"

"Clearly not." She smiled, standing up and brushing her dress down.

Embarrassed, Sesshomaru reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, taking out all of the frabsi he had with him, passing them to the woman. "I'm sorry for wasting your time."

Taking them from him, the woman counted them then held back two notes from the set. "You will need it to buy a train ticket." She explained with a wink. "Now get going, she's waiting for you."

With a thankful nod, the demon took back the change and left as quickly as he could, heading for home and the human he wanted so much.

Back at Dryshore, Rin was looking blankly out the window of the back of the shop, watching the rain as it ran down the glass, her mind daydreaming about other things.

"By the gods! Rin! Watch out!"

Shaken by the shout, Rin looked back to the table where the potion she had been working on was now boiling over the edge of the pot and onto the table making a mess. As she backed away from the hot liquid, Tarn stepped in, grabbing the pot in a pair of tongs and taking it to the sink, dunking the whole thing in the water, the air suddenly filled with a steam that made both of them cough until Tarn opened a window to let it out.

Once it was all gone and they could breathe normally, Rin lowered her head in embarrassment. "Sorry Master Tarn."

"What a waste." The master mumbled as he looked at the pot in the sink then turned to her. "Rin, you know you need to concentrate when making a potion. It's not like you to loose focus. What's wrong?"

The teenager looked towards the window once more. "I was wondering how long till the rain turns to snow."

Looking as well, the demon sighed. "Rin, try not to think about it. There is still time."

"I know." She said, sitting down on a chair, feeling a wave of exhaustion. "But I find myself wondering… if I will ever see Sesshomaru again."

"You miss him?"

"More than I thought possible. I mean, he left so suddenly, without any explanation. He… when he was around I felt… I don't know how to explain it. But… since he's been gone, I feel like part of me is gone too. I feel empty and… tired and… I can't find the drive to do anything."

The blue haired demon smiled sadly at her then shook his head. "Sesshomaru… he just needs time to think. He needs time to himself and time to reflect on some stuff." He stepped to her side and put an arm around her, rubbing her shoulder as he contemplated his next action. "Look, why don't you go rest? You look tired and you're clearly distracted. Go on, go read or something."

"But what about the mess?"

"I'll clean it up this once. Go on." He nodded towards the stairs and pushed her gently towards it.

Grateful, Rin headed up but on reaching the landing at the top, she found herself not heading to her room but to the room opposite, opening and stepping inside.

The room was just as Sesshomaru had left it apart from the fresh cut flowers Kusu left in all their rooms. The bed was made how he made it, the pile of books and notes were untouched as if he had stepped out for a bit instead of being gone for two weeks.

Walking over to the bed, Rin ran her hand over the pillow, remembering how they sometimes would lie there together, him holding her tight as she 'wiggled' if he didn't. She was still sure she didn't and he just wanted to hold her without saying as much.

She smiled a little as she picked up the pillow and hugged it, sitting on the edge of his bed for a bit, fighting back tears at the loneliness this made her feel. Finally she kicked off her shoes and lay down on top, her eyes closed as she tried to remember what it was like to have him hold her.

The sound of the rain against the glass was the only one she could hear and slowly she found herself drifting off. She wasn't sure how long she was asleep but when her eyes opened once more, she couldn't hear the rain but she could hear and feel someone breathing into the back of her neck, snuggling into it.

Quickly she tried to move but the arms were pinning her down from behind. "Stop wiggling." A familiar voice whispered into her ear.

Her eyes widened as she found a way to her feet and out of the bed, looking to see a sleepy Sesshomaru sitting up behind her, yawning and stretching.

"Sesshomaru! You're back? H-how long have you been back?"

"Not long. I was looking forward to a nice rest in my bed but I come in to find someone already enjoying a rest."

Blushing, Rin quickly retrieved her shoes and put them back on before looking around the room for some excuse to why she was there. "I was just… I was looking for your Mobatch pieces. I was going to have a game but I couldn't find them. I thought they might be… by your bed so I sat down and… I must have fallen asleep."

"Right." He said, his smile clearly showing he didn't believe a word of it. He stood from the bed and walked over to the board, reaching under to a premade compartment and pulled out the small box where the coins were kept. "They are right here."

"Oh, that's where you keep them." She chuckled nervously. "Well, I will know for next time. But I guess you will want to get back to sleep. I will let you rest then."

"Rin." He said, reaching out for her hand as she turned to leave. "Wait, we need to talk."

Trying not to react to the worst words that he could have said, she looked back at him, pulling her hand from his as she did. "What about?"

"Has Tarn told you anything? About why I left?"

"What do you mean? You didn't tell any of us why you left. You got offered a position with some travelling mercenaries and took it. There was nothing else to it. Right?"

"No. There was a reason." He sighed. "Rin, I was under a spell."

"What?!" She gasped, looking him over quickly as if she could see it. "When? What kind? What did it do?"

"Don't worry, Master Tarn removed it before I left. But it was the reason why I had to leave. You see, Rin, you cast the spell on me."

Her face went horrified at his words. "What? No. I would never cast a spell on someone without their permission. I have never cast a spell on you."

"You did, when you were unconscious and recovering from when you went through the rift. You did it subconsciously, without you or I knowing. Tarn didn't even know it was there since it was so subtle but as it got older it got stronger."

"Sesshomaru, I'm so sorry. I never meant to." She stared at him with a worried expression, swallowing hard. "Dare I ask… what it was?"

The demon paused as well as he looked at her before sighing softly. "It was a spell of protection."

"Really?"

"Yes. And it may explain a lot. Why I was so protective of you, why I was able to find you when Thomas took you to that void, why I was so possessive around you. It was the spell, driving me to keep you safe."

"I see." She whispered, thinking back herself. "It would explain a lot."

"But there was another problem with it."

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't know about my feelings for you Rin."

She blushed quickly at his words. "Feelings?"

"I had feelings for you Rin, strong ones. I couldn't stop thinking about you, wanting to make you happy and… keep you safe but when I found out about the spell, I wasn't sure if they were true. If they were just a result of the spell or my own."

Looking away, Rin nodded and rubbed her arm. "I can see where you would think that."

"I left so I could think and work out my feelings for you. I couldn't do that with you around so I had to leave."

Tensing, the human couldn't bring herself to look at him, feeling frozen in place as she dreaded what she was about to say but she had to. "And… as you have come back, I guess you have found your answer?"

"Yes."

She closed her eyes a little, feeling exposed and vulnerable. "And… can I ask… what it is?"

There was silence as Sesshomaru tried to find the right words, even if he had been practicing them mentally for the last few hours on the ride back to Dryshore. "Rin, I don't know what started my feelings for you but whatever it was is in the past and I may never know when or how but right now, knowing I am free of any enchantment and that my feelings are my own, I know the truth." He reached out and cupped her cheek, turning her to look at him. "I care about you, Rin. I enjoy your company and your energy, I admire how you face every challenge head on and don't let it get you down. Even with everything around you, you keep fighting."

His eyes glanced a way for a while. "I'm not very good at expressing my feelings but I know that I want to continue spending time with you the way we were before. That is, if you would like to be with me."

She smiled softly as she looked up at him. "Are you kidding? I've been miserable since you left. I've missed you so much."

Chuckling, the demon leant towards her and gently kissed her cheek. "I'm sorry." He sighed. "I should have told you about the spell before I left."

Slowly Rin tipped her head towards him and let her eyes close as she felt his arms around her. "It's alright." She promised before closing the gap between them, pressing her lips to his for a moment. "You can make it up to me later."

With a nod, he returned her kiss and as he did, he realised that no one else could replace this, and that he wanted her and no other.


	23. Part 8: Morone Chapter 2

Part 8: Morone (17 Years old - October) Chapter 2

Sesshomaru sighed as he softly stroked her cheek, causing her eyes to open slightly with a gentle moan. "Easy." He whispered, sighing to her. "Easy."

She smiled at him but then her eyes drifted shut again and she went off to sleep once more.

The silver haired demon stayed with her for a bit longer but there was no sign she was going to wake up again. He smiled at her, leaning over and kissing her brow then left the room, heading downstairs.

Tarn was talking to Kusu over a cup of coffee before looking up at the younger. "How is she?"

"She's cold and asleep." He sighed. "It's like when the curse took effect before. She's in pain and… I don't know what to do."

"With the months getting colder… the curse is beginning to take effect again." Tarn explained with a shake of his head. "I don't know how much longer she can keep going."

"Is there anything we can do for her?"

"I don't think so. I have tried for months to even translate the curse and gotten no closer." He sighed. "And Rin doesn't have time for me to keep struggling."

Kusu nodded. "Is there anything we can do? Anyone we could turn to for help that wouldn't turn against us?"

"Please master, there must be something we can do for her. Someone." Sesshomaru pleaded.

The master frowned to himself, looking down to the floor. "There… is someone… I think might be able to help and that I trust enough."

"Who?"

"Hollinna Sanel."

"Holly?" Kusu repeated. "You haven't spoken to her in years."

The demon nodded. "Actually, I ran into her when I was registering Rin with the council." He sighed. "And I have this feeling she knows Rin is human."

"How?"

"She always had this… look when she knew I was doing something I shouldn't be." He sighed. "She had that same look when we were at the council."

"Do you think she could help?"

"I'm not sure." He sighed. "But… it might be worth the try."

Sesshomaru walked quickly over to his master and nodded. "Please Master, can't you ask her to try? Rin doesn't have much time."

Reminded of the young woman upstairs, Tarn took a breath and nodded. "Alright. I think I still have her Hinus Ring… somewhere." He sighed, walking over to his office and beginning to search for the ring.

Less than a day later, there was a knock at the front door and Kusu opened it to find a woman with long loose red hair that went down her back and dressed in a long dark brown gown with one sleeve longer than the other. She smiled at the green haired woman and nodded. "Good evening."

Kusu bowed her head softly. "Mistress Hollinna."

The demoness nodded back. "I guess you are expecting me. So, where is that boy that used to call himself my student?"

"He is in the back madam."

Hollinna nodded. "Lead the way then."

Locking the shop up, Kusu lead the way to the back where Tarn and Sesshomaru were waiting. The two bowed to the older demoness as she came in. "Thank you for coming Madam."

"It's good to see you too Tarnanok. I was quiet surprised when I got your message."

"I know I haven't been much of a student…"

"You did leave my charge over 500 years ago. You are allowed to lose touch." She smiled at him. "Now then. I am guessing this has something to do with that little human you were registering at the council." Her eyes turned to her student. "You always were a reckless one Tarn."

"Yes madam. Her name is Rin."

"And what can I do to help?"

Tarn looked over the others in the room, judging if it would be right to tell her but they all nodded. "She is cursed."

"Cursed?"

"Yes, and it's in such an ancient language that I have only been able to identify… a handful of words."

Holly turned to look at him with a worried expression. "If that is the case then it either is a very old language or I didn't teach you as well as I thought."

"It is ancient Madam." Tarn said, trying to control his smile. "I have done everything in my power to translate it." He waved a hand to the table where rolls of paper and books were laid out. "This is the curse transcribed and all my work on it."

Holly stepped forwards and looked as well, leaning on the table and reading it. "This is a full transcription? Every word and character?"

"Just as you taught me. Every shape I could see I wrote it down."

Holly was silent as she worked, reading it carefully then finally she nodded. "This is very good Tarn, but I see why you are struggling. This language is beyond ancient."

"But can you read it?"

She looked it over once more then looked up to her student. "I need to see the original."

"Rin is resting." Sesshomaru said, the first thing he'd said since the demoness arrived. "She's not strong enough to leave her bed right now."

"Madam, this is Sesshomaru, my other student." The blue haired man said quickly. "He's as worried about Rin as the rest of us."

Holly smiled to him. "It's a pleasure to meet you Sesshomaru. And don't worry, I can find what I need without the girl waking or leaving her bed. Please, show me the way to her."

Looking at Tarn, Sesshomaru slowly lead the way up the stairs and into Rin's room, opening her door for the lady. Holly nodded to him as she went into the room and went over to Rin's bed, sitting beside her. Gently she placed her hand on the girl's brow and frowned. "She's as cold as ice." Holly sighed. "Are you giving her anything for it?"

"Fluxroot and ground Pocan seed with Mossycup essence." Tarn explained from the door.

The other nodded in agreement to the treatment. "That would help with her temperature. But she's clearly in pain…" She sighed then ran her hands over her arm and shoulder.

Sesshomaru watched carefully. "Her breathing is getting worse by the day." He added, listening as the teenager struggled.

The master nodded. "I can see that. She's suffering so much." She turned her eyes away then held her hand, mumbling a few words that made the curse on Rin slowly appear, appearing over her whole body even over the blankets she had covering her.

"When I first found her, it only covered her wrists and neck."

"But it's grown." Holly continued, looking it over, moving her hand over the curse as she did. "Its powerful magic but I don't detect any malice in it."

"No malice?"

"No, whoever did this either didn't care or didn't know what they were doing. It's a possibility this may all be an accident."

"Rin doesn't remember who did it or anything before she was cursed."

"Leaning more towards accident then." Holly mumbled, more to herself. "If this was done with the intent to harm, the victim often remembers."

"Can you do anything?" Sesshomaru said, holding his breath as he waited.

The demoness thought, rubbed her head and eyes then let out a deep sigh. "Tarn, I'm sure someone at the council would be able to help identify this. You should tell them, they may be able to help her."

Tarn instantly shook his head. "If I tell anyone they will take her away, experiment on her. I believe that this curse gave her the ability to use demonic magic. And if that is true then…"

"This might not be an accident. Some demon might be trying to give humans our powers. Which is more reason to tell the council."

"Please, Master, don't tell anyone." Tarn practically begged. "She has been in my care most of her life. I care for her. If she is going to die, let it be at home, with those that love her surrounding her. After she passes I swear I will go to the council and tell them what I found."

The cool silver eyes of the master narrowed. "You would rather she died than have the chance of saving her?"

"Saving her at what cost?" Tarn countered. "I won't let her be… prodded and poked in the _hope_ that we find a cure. I'm sorry Holly but that's my final stand."

Holly was still for a bit then nodded and sighed. "Very well, I will respect your wishes." She looked back to the girl. "But I'm afraid I can't break this curse. It is beyond my powers."

Kusu, Tarn and Sesshomaru lowered their heads a little in defeat, trying not to let disappointment show.

Sensing their mood, the master raised her head a little. "But, I can help her."

Hope returned to everyone. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I should be able to help contain the curse. Push it back so she will be pain free and able to move and walk without suffering. It will not last forever but it should let her have some life before she dies."

"It's better than her being trapped in bed all the time." Sesshomaru said for them all. "Please, if you can Master."

"I will need a few things and some time to prepare. Tarn, may I borrow your assistant and kitchen?"

"Of course Master." Tarn said, watching as she headed for the door. "Kusu will help in any way she can."

"Good." The red head said with a nod before stopping. "Oh and I will need something to put the spell in. Something that she can wear at all times. A bracelet or earrings? I would say necklace but that healing crystal is doing a great job and I do not want to interfere with it."

"I will find something Master." Tarn said, hopeful once more.

Sesshomaru gave a weak smile. "I think I already have something." He confessed, leaving the room and returning to his own before coming back a moment later with a small box in his hands. "I was going to give it to her later." He explained opening the box for the masters, revealing the content.

Blinking, Tarn looked at the ring then the boy. "And do I ask why you had a ring in your room for Rin?"

The demon glared at him for what he was implying. "It's a Guardian stone."

Looking back, Tarn saw that the ring wasn't the solid band he thought it instead did have a small stone in the middle that looked mainly white with various green and pink flecks in it. "A guardian stone? Sesshomaru, how did you afford this?"

"I've been saving up." He said with a shrug. "A guardian stone will help protect Rin. That's all I wanted."

"Very well then. Sesshomaru, you go and give that to Holly downstairs. I will stay with Rin."

"Thank you master." He nodded and headed downstairs.

The back room had been moved around with the large table pushed to the side to create an open space, Holly drawing something on the floor while Kusu was busy stirring a potion carefully. "Madam Holly, I have what you asked for." He explained, holding out the ring.

Standing up, Holly brushed her hands clean of chalk and nodded to herself. "Thank you." She smiled, taking the ring before blinking as she looked over it. "Wait… is this a Guardian stone? I have only seen a handful of them in my whole life." Her silver eyes met the golden ones. "This is a very valuable gift. It will greatly increase the power of my spell. Are you sure you want me to use it?"

"Yes. If it will help Rin."

"Very well. Kusu, is that potion bubbling yet?"

"Just about madam."

With a nod, Holly stepped over and placed the ring into the potion, watching as the yellow liquid turned clear. "Right… that's the ring ready." She reached to her hand and tapped a ring. "Tarn, can you bring Rin down please?" She said into it then tapped it again.

A moment later, Tarn came down the stairs, Rin in his arms and a blanket wrapped around her. Holly nodded to him and pointed to the chalk she had been drawing before. "Lie her down there." Once Rin was on the floor, Holly stepped over placed the ring on her little finger on her right hand and nodded. "Everyone step back and be silent."

Once everyone was away from the spell, Holly took a breath and held out both hands and began to whisper the spell, the chalk around Rin began to glow grey and slowly span on the floor around the body.

All three in the room watched with hope and wonder at the complicated spell, waiting for any sign it was working. Suddenly Rin took a deep breath and sat up, the spell slowing to a stop and Holly stepped back. "It's done." She said.

Quickly, Sesshomaru went over to Rin and knelt at her side, reaching out and holding her hand. "Rin? Rin are you alright?"

"Yeah… I'm alright." she whispered, smiling up at him as she sat up. "I feel… I feel… alright."

"The spell I just cast on you has pushed back the effect of the curse." The formal demoness explained as the two stood up. "The curse is still there but now you won't feel it anymore. Eventually it will wear off but until then as long as you wear that ring, you will be able to move freely and without pain."

Looking at her hand, Rin fiddled with the gold band on her finger. "Thank you Madam Holly."

"I'm only sorry I couldn't break the curse on you Rin. But you be sure to enjoy what time you have."

Glancing at Kusu, Tarn and Sesshomaru, the young teen nodded. "I will be sure to do that."


	24. Part 8: Morone Chapter 3

**Part 8: Morone (17 Years old - October) Chapter 3**

Smiling to herself, Rin concentrated on the potion before her, gradually adding six drops into the mix, stirring gently and watched the reaction. "Master Tarn, I think it's ready."

After a moment the demon came over and looked down as well, dipping in a finger and licking it before nodding. "Yeah, that's ready. Can you bottle it?"

"Of course. But why are we making so much Repair Elixir?"

Tarn, with his own batch of the potion, chuckled. "Well the Harvest festival is this weekend. And I know from previous experience that after the festival there is a massive call for Repair Elixirs."

"Oh?"

"A good harvest brings a lot of hops which means a lot of beer which means very drunk customers."

"Meaning hangovers?"

"The last thing we want to do is run out when half the town is nursing mega headaches." He chuckled as he worked on his brew. "How is yours coming Sesshomaru?"

"I'm almost on the aalite juice."

"Good, remember, only put six drops in, not ten. This year's crop is really good thanks to Rin's diligent care so we don't need as much."

"I know." Sesshomaru said, smiling over at Rin. "The garden has never looked so good, Rin."

"I do my best." She mumbled, trying to appear humble as she put stoppers in bottles that she had filled.

Tarn glanced between the two then back at his work. "You know… if we get all these done today then I see no reason we can't shut the shop this weekend. And if you want we could attend the festival."

The two blinked and looked at each other before Rin smiled. "It would be nice to go."

"Well, I've been invited to a dinner with a few other masters in Central. And I think Kusu is planning to go to visit some family. So… the pair of you will be here alone, as long as that's alright with you."

"We are more than old enough to be left alone Master Tarn." Sesshomaru agreed with a nod.

"And you trust us with the shop all the time." Rin added.

Tarn nodded. "Alright. Well then, if we get 200 of these elixirs bottles done by tomorrow night then I will allow you to keep the shop shut for the festival. Sound like a deal?"

"Deal." The two students said, returning to work with a new determination.

Tarn tried not to laugh or shake his head as he went about his own trade. Rin frowned as she looked at her work, thinking over the agreement. The Repair Elixir could only be made in small batches which produced 7 to 10 bottles and it took two hours to produce those ten. So to produce 200 bottles they would need to make at least 28 batches and between the three of them would mean nine batches each. That would mean working for 18 hours which would be an easy target for them. Tarn was practically giving them the weekend off.

She smiled as she worked it out and carried on to work.

As expected, it was easy to complete 200 bottles that were now in neat trays ready for sale after the festival. That weekend, Tarn packed up his best jacket and shirt and went off to Central while Kusu headed out by carriage towards her niece's.

So Rin and Sesshomaru were left alone in The Sapphire Rune for the whole weekend. They took full advantage of their time alone, locking the shop and using the morning to enjoy each other's company before preparing for the evening festivities.

Without Kusu to help her, Rin left her hair down but did place a pink ribbon and a pink flower in her hair before pulling on one of her more elegant dresses, a plain thick warm fabric to it, complete with long gloves and a warm fur shawl on her shoulders. She always thought it would be a strange look on her but she found she liked it.

She thought she'd be first downstairs but as she made the turn on the last step, she saw Sesshomaru waiting for her. "And here was me thinking I would be first."

"I don't always take hours to get ready." He hummed, walking over to her, wrapping his arms around her hips and pulling her towards him for a slow kiss. "Besides, I wanted to see you come down. It was worth the wait."

She kissed him back then put her head on his shoulder, snuggling into the warm fur lining his own coat had. "I see." She hummed then chuckled. "You know, we could just stay here… we don't have to go to the festival."

"As good as that sounds." He chuckled, rubbing his nose up the side of her head. "I would like to go to the festival. It only comes once a year and a year is a long time for a demon."

Laughing, Rin smiled and nodded. "Alright. Let's go."

Stepping back, the demon held out his arm for her. "Come along then."

It was a slow walk but the streets of Dryshore were filled with golden floating lanterns, beautiful bunting made from autumn leaves lined shop to shop and the road was filled with people heading in one direction and the pair moved to follow them. Just on the outskirts of town, behind the train station, was a large festival with a fairground, various shops and stands with both food and games while there was a large dance floor in the middle of it all that was already filled with people.

Rin laughed as they went into the festival, holding the demon's arm tightly in her excitement. "What do you want to do first?"

"I don't mind." He said with a smile. "But may I recommend start with the fun rides?"

"Good idea."

With a smile, they began to explore the festival, starting at the rides, some human based like hook a duck and a coconut shy while others were demonic in style such as riddle stands and tests of strength. The two had a go on a few of them but the games were certainly set up to never let someone win. They then went on the Ferris wheel, through the Crazy Mirrors which were enchanted to change the appearance of those looking into them, rode the dodgems and went on the swing boat which was where they decided it was time to give the rides a break and got some drinks and food.

Even with the coolness of the air, with their warm coats, Rin hardly felt it but the warm food did help take whatever edge there was. "What is this?" Rin asked as she enjoyed a skewer of meat in a sweet sauce.

Sesshomaru smiled as he nibbled on his own. "Human flesh in a barbecue sauce."

Rin stopped and spat out the mouthful she had been chewing. "WHAT!"

The demon smirked at her. "Just kidding Rin, its chicken."

Bumping her shoulder into his, the female rolled her eyes. "Ass." She cursed but she didn't mean it. She just wrapped her arm around his to prevent getting separated.

They walked for a bit longer, browsing the stands and talking, enjoying the time unsupervised. Eventually they were lucky enough to find an unoccupied bench and sat down together, Rin pressing her head into the other's shoulder and listening to the laughter, chatter and noise around her.

Letting her rest, the demon glanced down at the ring on her finger, the one holding back her curse. He let out a sigh and reached out for it, lifting her hand to his lips and kissing the stone, wishing for it to keep working forever.

He let it go and saw two dark chocolate brown eyes looking at him. "What are you thinking about?" He asked after a moment to enjoy her gaze.

She gave a small tentative smile. "How I wish we could come back next year."

His eyes widened a fraction but then he relaxed and leant over, brushing his nose against her cheek and listening to her giggle as he kissed the spot behind her ear. "You will Rin." He sighed. "We will find a way to break this curse. We will free you, I promise." He moved away and looked at her. "With Madam Holly working on it as well now, we have an even better chance. He doesn't think I know but Tarn spends hours every day just working on it. And he sends reports to her every other day." He let a small smile fill the space between them. "We will free you. We just have to be patient."

Rin sighed and reached up to his cheek, pulling him towards her until their lips met, kissing him gently before pulling back, stroking his silky hair away.

The demon stared at her as she did then shook his head. "I won't lose you."

With a smile, Rin said nothing but pulled him back for another kiss, brushing her thumb gently over his jaw as they did, feeling the tension in him slowly ease away.

"Sesshomaru?"

They broke away quickly at the voice and turned to see a demoness with pale blue like skin and short blonde hair in a long bright red dress that was hidden mostly by a green cloak walking over to them. She smiled kindly as she stopped and looked at the demon. "It is you! I thought I recognised you."

"Celine, it's good to see you." The silver haired demon greeted politely as he stood, Rin beside him. "How have you been? It's been a while since I saw you."

"It's been an age. I'm just back in town for the festival, then I'm returning to Midshell. How about you? You still training with that Master at the Ruby Wreck?"

"The Sapphire Rune. And yes, I am."

"Well, if you ever find your way to my neck of the woods." She gave him a clearly flirtatious smile. "I'm sure you and I could pick up where we left off." She let her eyes wander over him before turning her gaze to Rin. "And what is this?"

"This is Master Tarn's new shop assistant, Rin." Sesshomarug said, sticking to the established lie about the girl.

Celine smile grew a little. "Ohh, isn't that sweet. Taking the little human out to the festival. You always were good with children, Sesshomaru."

Seeing right through her statement, Rin looked down at the floor and tried not to react too much but Sesshomaru soon had his arm around her shoulders. "Actually, Rin is my date for this evening. Now if you don't mind, I promised her the next dance."

With that, he grabbed her hand and pulled her away, right onto the dance floor and stood towards the centre, other couples also coming to join them as the band prepared for the next tune. He looked down on his partner and sighed. "Sorry about her. Celine is a bit of a… unusual demon. She often speaks before she thinks."

"I could tell." Rin mumbled.

"I wasn't going to let her speak to you like that Rin. I mean, yes, she and I dated a little when I was first starting here but it was nothing serious. She dumped me pretty fast when I said I was leaving to go train."

The human chuckled. "I see."

"But who cares about her. I have _you_ now." His eyes lifted from her to the band behind them who were beginning the first bars of a tune. "And… we are going to dance now."

"I don't know how to dance."

Stepping back and pulling her with him, Sesshomaru grinned at her. "Really? All those books you read and you have never read one on dancing?"

"Shut up, why would I need to?"

"For situations like this." He grinned as he pulled her effortlessly around the dance floor, his demonic strength making it easy for him. After a while Rin stopped trying to control or understand where he was going and instead just held on for the ride, feeling his hand in hers as he guided her and he looked at her with a small smile.

When the song came to its end, he leant over and pecked her lips with his own, kissing her gently. Part of Rin had expected some kind of reaction from the crowd on seeing a demon kissing a human but no one batted an eye at the pair.

After the kiss, they headed off to enjoy the festival for a while longer before noticing the crowds were changing and it was no longer filled with children and families but a louder crowd of adults, both demons and humans. Even the music appeared to change, going from slow traditional to a harder rowdy music.

It was also around this time that the shops began to put the price of beer and spirits out showing they were now for sale. Sesshomaru hummed as he watched people walk past with cups of alcohol. "I think it might be time to head home." He decided.

Rin agreed and they headed back towards town once more, careful to avoid the busy crowds as they did, smiling at their enjoyment but with no intention of joining it themselves.

Back at the shop, they headed inside and up to Rin's door where she stood and looked at Sesshomaru. "So…"

"So, I guess I don't have to sneak into your room tonight." He finished for her, stepping in until his lips were hovering over hers. "I could just come in right now. Since no one else is here."

With a small grin, Rin allowed her feet to lift and she got slightly taller and kissed him once more. "Come on in then."

* * *

**A/N: Well... Umm... I guess you can guess what can happened next? Anyway enjoy the chapter! Love it! **


	25. Part 9: Poveromo Chapter 1

Part 9: Poveromo (18 Years old - November) Chapter 1

Trying not to sigh, Sesshomaru stared out at the large shop window, the streets outside deserted and he had seen no one all morning. Business was slow and he wasn't sure how much longer he could handle this boredom.

He had already reorganised the displays near him in alphabetic order, then by colour and then by size of bottle but he was running out of things to do. Leaning back in his seat, he let out the sigh he'd been holding in and his gaze turned once more to the clock on the wall. But there was nothing he could do to make time go faster.

As his eyes turned once more to the window, it appeared his wish had been granted as suddenly a small collection of white flew past the glass towards the ground.

Horror filling his frame, he ran over and threw the door open, looking up to see if this was a trick but the sky above was the same yet white snow fell from above him, landing on the stone and dirt. As the realisation hit him he turned and ran inside, not caring when something fell behind him as he charged up the stairs to where he found Rin on the ground, leaning on the wall in a heap.

"No." He whimpered, running over to her and kneeling at her side, lifting her head to see her face.

Slowly her eyes opened and her gaze met his, giving him a slight smile. "Sesshomaru." She whispered, her strength clearly being pulled away.

"Rin." He whispered back to her, leaning closer until his brow touched hers.

"Is it snowing?"

"Yes… yes it is." He nodded, tears in his eyes. "I'm… I'm so sorry."

"Don't be." She told him, breathless yet she still had the ability to lift her hand to show him the ring Holly had enchanted for her. The metal was physically trembling as if trying to push something away from her. "I don't know how long I have."

Unwilling to accept what she was implying, instead picking her up off the ground and carrying her into her room, lying her carefully on the bed. As he did, he noticed how pale and cold she was, like she had been months ago when the curse had last taken effect. He stroked her hair gently back and caressed her cheek to try and comfort her. "Anything I can do?" He asked, feeling helpless.

She shook her head a little, shifting closer to him. "No, just stay here."

Glad to obey her request, the demon sighed. "I don't want to lose you Rin."

"We all knew this day would come eventually."

"No. I thought we would find the cure. I thought you would be alright. I thought you would have longer." He let out a sniff then looked away, trying to hold himself together. Finally he looked back, slightly more like the cold faced demon she knew more than the emotional one. "Rin, I wanted to stay with you."

"And you can." She said, pulling him closer. "For as long as I live, you can be with me."

He sniffed softly then moved to sit on the other side of the bed with her and pulled her closer to his shoulder. "I won't let go of you." He promised. "It's okay. I'm with you."

She smiled and wrapped her arm around him, eyes closed while Sesshomaru looked out the window behind the bed to see the snow continue to fall.

After a few minutes of silence and enjoying each other's contact, there was a gentle knock on the door, Kusu and Tarn stepping inside, Tarn covered all over in snow. "Rin." He said, letting out a breath and kneeling beside her, holding her hand. "I saw the snow."

"Looks like you have been running in it." Rin chuckled as she reached out and brushed some from his shoulder.

He gave her a smile. "Yes… as soon as I saw it, I ran home." He sighed, brushing his own hair. "How do you feel?"

"I feel fine. A little tired but… I'm not in pain. I promise."

Tarn shook his head as he lifted her hand to his lips, his eyes screwed shut. "Rin… I'm so sorry." He sniffed, his body trembling. "I promised to save you, I promised to keep you safe. You shouldn't be like this. I promised to save you. I failed."

"No Tarn." She sighed, squeezing his hand tight. "You did save me."

His amethyst eyes looked up at her, tears flooding them. "Rin…"

"You saved me from a life on the street. You gave me a home and a family. You gave me everything."

"Apart from your life." He sniffed, a tear finally falling down his cheek. "I'm so sorry."

The human smiled softly, even if tears were in her own eyes. "Don't be. I had ten years with you. Ten years of learning and magic and adventure and love. I love you Master Tarn, for everything you have done for me."

He smiled at her, gently nodding and kissing her hand once more. "And I you Rin."

With a nod, the human turned her eyes to Kusu who was stood towards the door, a hand to her mouth as she tried not to cry. "Kusu?"

She looked up then walked over to her, taking her hand as Tarn stood and stepped to the side a little. The green haired demoness nodded. "I'm here Rin."

"Thank you for looking after me all this time. You really did a great job. I appreciate everything you have done for me." She smiled a little. "Even you taking my stash of chocolate away."

Kusu chuckled at the memory and nodded, sniffing softly. "I've loved every moment Rin. Even cleaning that Alfoylite blood from your clothes."

"Sorry about that." Rin chuckled herself. "We ended up throwing that dress away at the end of it all."

"It was one of your favourites too."

"Well, you did buy me a new one for my birthday last week." She said then gave a small gasp, glancing at the ring on the hand in Kusu's grasp. "The pink one all covered with sparkles and ribbons. I'm just sorry I never got a chance to wear it."

Kusu gave her a smile as she nodded. "You don't like it, do you?"

Looking into her eyes, Rin smiled and nodded. "Too many bows… and the big gem in the middle was a bit much." She chuckled then inhaled again as pain coursed through her body.

Sesshomaru looked at the ring on her hand, the metal trembling as he wrapped his arm around her neck and held her tighter. "Rin." He whispered, holding her tighter.

For a while, all any of them could do was watch as the metal shook but then, without a sound, the metal band snapped into four parts that fell to the bed. Almost instantly, Rin coughed and fell back slightly, her body shaking, breath suddenly becoming weak and shallow. Without the enchantment to hold it back, the curse was hitting her harder and faster, feeling it full force and the pain she was in clear.

Tarn looked between the girl and the demon in bed with her, his eyes filled with pain and sorrow for the woman in his arms. Slowly he reached out and placed a hand on his assistant's shoulder. "Kusu… come with me." He whispered, pulling her towards the door.

As they left, the younger demon turned to the woman in his arms and brushed her hair away, holding her cheek and feeling her temperature continue to drop, her eyes only just still open, slowly focusing on his. "Sesshomaru?"

"I'm here Rin."

"I'm cold." She whispered, shivering.

Shifting to hold her closer and share his heat with her, Sesshomaru sighed. "I'm here. It's okay."

She blinked a few times then let out a slow breath, leaning her head into his shoulder, tears flowing down her face as she felt him hold her, felt his hands tremble as he held her. Sesshomaru tried to keep himself calm but his own tears were falling down his cheeks and into her hair as he listened. Then, after a few minutes, her breath came to a slow and gradual end.

He let out a deep breath and let her go, looking down into her face but she was still and her eyes closed as if asleep. He blinked the tears away, leaning down and kissing her forehead, whispering some words to her and himself.

After a moment to say his goodbyes, he wiped his eyes and looked towards the door to call Kusu and Tarn back in but then gasped when he saw the creature floating before him.

As soon as he saw it, the beast charged at him, mouth wide and filled with sharp teeth, a loud hissing filling the air as it did. He raised one arm to protect himself from its teeth and the other covered Rin. It was upon him and he could feel the pricks of teeth on his arm as the fangs began to sink in.


	26. Part 9: Poveromo Chapter 2

Part 9: Poveromo (18 Years old - November) Chapter 2

Sesshomaru bolted suddenly upright, gasping for each breath, fear filling him as he reached for his arm where the bite had been but there was no sign of the bite. He felt his body shake as each moment of the nightmare was captured in his mind.

"Sesshomaru?" A sleepy voice asked from his side.

Turning he saw Rin lying in bed beside him, looking tired from being woken but well. "Rin." He said, watching her sit up and face him.

"What's wrong?" She asked, cupping his cheek gently. "You're shaking and white as a sheet. What's going on?"

He stared at her then shook his head, looking away. "I need to speak to Kusu." He said suddenly, climbing over her to the room, picking up his shirt from the floor and pulling it back on.

Rin frowned at him. "What? Are you alright?"

"I need to speak to Kusu." He repeated, hurrying out of her room and across to Kusu's, banging loudly on the door. "Kusu! Kusu! Wake up! I need to speak to you! Kusu?"

The door soon opened, the green haired demoness stood before them with her hair down around her in a rare mess. "Sesshomaru? What is the meaning of this?"

"I need to know something." He explained, hands on the doorframe to steady himself. "It is of vital importance. Are you planning to buy Rin a pink dress covered with sparkles and ribbons for her birthday? Please, I need to know."

Confused by being woken for such an odd request, the demoness took a moment then nodded. "Yes… yes I am although I don't know what it has to do…."

"Master Tarn." Sesshomaru interrupted, turning to him as he left his room, woken by the commotion in the hallway. "Master Tarn, I think I just had a vision."

"What?" The demon said as he left his room. "What kind of vision?"

Sesshomaru paused, looking at Rin who was watching all this with confusion. "I… I saw Rin's death."

They all shifted uncomfortably at the words, Rin almost physically tensing but Tarn took a breath, forcing himself to relax. "I see. Do you know when?"

"About a week after her birthday." He sighed. "If Kusu really is planning on buying her than pink dress."

"Are you sure?"

"It was so real… I know it was real."

He sighed, turning to Rin who clearly was trying to work out how long she had. "Rin, it will be okay."

She didn't say anything, just looking away and began to mess with the ring containing her curse. Sesshomaru however, shook his head. "No, master, that isn't what I wanted to tell you."

"Then what is?"

"I saw something." He took a breath. "I saw something just as… just as Rin died."

Tarn frowned as he pulled his housecoat tighter. "What did you see?"

"There was this creature. It appeared just as Rin…" He let out a sigh, trying to remember the creature. "It was about… this big." He held out his hands a fair bit apart. "It was dark grey and covered with fur. It had wings like a bat and four arms with claws and two webbed feet. There were these antennae on his head and pitch black eyes with a mouth full of fangs that were dripping this… golden coloured venom that had flecks of black in it. I was looking at it when it suddenly charged at me. That was when I woke up."

Tarn rubbed the small patch of hair on his chin, clearly thinking over what was said. "Gold venom with black in it?"

"Yes. It was dripping constantly." Sesshomaru confirmed. "Why? What are you thinking?"

Staring at the ground, Tarn looked distantly then hurried past and down to his study, looking over the spines before he found the one he was looking for, dropping it on his desk before opening the book, flipping from page to page quickly. The rest of the household soon joined him, standing at the side of the room in their night clothes as they watched him finally find what he was looking for with a loud "Ahha! Sesshomaru, is this what you saw?"

Stepping over, Sesshomaru looked at the page and nodded. "Yes, that is what I saw."

"A knizzal." Tarn explained, looking over the page once more. "They are parasites. They live off others." He almost sounded excited by what he found, reading the page over and over. "This is why I haven't been able to work out Rin's curse!" He clapped his hands, practically giddy as he pointed at the human. "She isn't cursed!"

"What?" All of them called.

The demon master nodded. "She is _infected_." He laughed, flopping back into his chair. "Knizzals infect their pray, give them abnormal abilities and then, when winter comes, kill the host and goes into those around them. It's why I couldn't work out Rin's cruse, these creatures are so old that their language predates humans and demons. Its part animal so it would make no sense to us. Hence why I was unable to translate it."

Kusu had stepped over to the book as well, reading the information. "Tarn, I hate to burst your bubble but this books says they only infect animals and are harmless to demons and humans."

Tarn nodded, running a hand back in his hair. "Yes, I read that part as well but it has to be this… it fits too perfectly to be anything else. I mean…. Sesshomaru's dream, the curse… it all fits."

The group were silent before Rin looked up. "Pallen bees." She suggested. "What is they are like Pallen bees."

Sesshomaru turned to her and frowned. "What are Pallen bees?"

"They are a type of bee that live in the demon world and help pollinate certain plants. They have spots on their back, one for each generation from the alpha." She explained. "Their stingers are harmless unless you find one with four spots or less on its back. Then their sting is deadly. But what I'm saying is; what if only a certain kind… or generation… could infect a human? The older or… stronger type?"

Tarn stared at her, considering what she was saying. "Pallen bees are not the only creature known to have specials of their species. There are several others. And knizzal are very hard to study as they only appear at the host's death." He nodded. "I am liking this theory."

"So… now we know what has infected Rin." Kusu said with a nod. "The next question is how do we save her?"

Sesshomaru read the book quickly. "I think it's a case of find the one who infected her and kill it."

"How are we going to find it?"

"Rin has some of its venom inside her, we can extract it and use it for a seeker and track it down. We have no idea where this thing is so it might take a while to find it."

"Then what are we waiting for!" Sesshomaru called out. "Let's go find it and kill it."

"You always want to charge in Sesshomaru, and I understand your enthusiasm, I even share it but this is not a time to go in blind. We need to research and prepare. If we charge in without planning… we may put Rin in more danger."

The younger demon growled to himself but then nodded, agreeing they should research and prepare and after getting dressed, they got to work. It was easy to confirm Rin was infected by a knizzal, Tarn took a small sample of her blood and extracted the venom from it, a small vial of gold with black flecks in it.

Sesshomaru and Rin made a trip to Central and checked out every book they found about the parasites and their ways as well as how to defeat them. Sadly it wasn't a large collection but any excuse to spend time with Rin was welcomed for both of them.

Tarn had taken some of the venom and put it in a pointer to try and get a general idea of where the creature was, his pointer leading him to a fissure where it started going crazy. All this meant was that the knizzal was in the human world. It made their plan a little harder but they just prepared for their journey to be longer than originally planned but it also meant Rin couldn't come with them.

Slightly worried about leaving her alone, as Kusu insisted on coming, Tarn had sent a message to his mentor asking her to come and watch over the human.

It was only three days after Sesshomaru had his dream but with time being so messed up in the demon world it felt like weeks. Rin's birthday, the last day of each demonic month, was approaching and the three demons felt they were well enough prepared to handle whatever was ahead of them.

As Tarn spoke with his former master and Kusu checked over their supplies once more, Sesshomaru took Rin's hand and pulled her out the back to the garden, looking up at the sky. "Are you scared?" he asked eventually.

"I'm worried. Even with all our work, we still have no idea what is going to happen."

"I know." He sighed, turning to face her, his hard expression abnormally soft. "There is only so much research can prepare you for but we will succeed. It might take a while but if this creature is in the human world that will be to our advantage since time moves slower here when in that world."

"Time is a very strange thing." She said with a smile but then it fell as she looked down at her hand. "I'm just worried I won't see you again. I know the two of us had a very rough start but… I've really grown attached to you Sesshomaru."

A hand gently caressed her cheek and her gaze moved to slightly towards him as he stared at her. "I've grown attached to you too Rin." He said, brushing some of her hair back. "And I look forward to spending more time with you when this is over."

His caress was gentle and his words kind but it made her stomach twist with worry that there would be no 'more time'. "Please be safe."

"It's just a parasite. I've dealt with worse."

"Just promise me you will look after yourself. And Tarn and Kusu."

"I promise." He swore, kissing her brow and hugging her tight.

After a moment of embrace, Sesshomaru pushed her back slightly and lifted her head so he could reach for a kiss, remaining still as they did, enjoying the moment.

Just as the demon allowed his hand to run back in her hair, the door opened and Tarn stepped out, looking at the pair who quickly parted. The turquoise haired man nodded softly. "It's time to go."

Nodding back, the silver haired demon let out a breath then, after a wishful glance at the human, they headed inside where Sesshomaru's coat, sword and bag was waiting for him, Tarn and Kusu smoothing down their coats and adjusting their bags while Holly stood to the side.

As they returned, Kusu stepped over to Rin and hugged the human tightly. "We will be back before you know it."

"Be careful." Rin said back, squeezing the demoness.

"We will." The green haired demoness promised, leaning back. "Take care of the shop while we are gone."

As Kusu let go fully, Tarn stepped over and embraced her. "You behave for Madam Hollina."

"I will Master Tarn." She chuckled as she hugged him too.

"I will miss you while we are gone." He promised, sighing as he let her go and turned to his other student. "You don't have to come Sesshomaru, Kusu and I can handle this."

"No, I want to come. I want to help save Rin. And no offence master but I'm a better swordsman than you or Kusu."

"No arguments here." Kusu said, still messing uncomfortably with the blade at her side. She was going more as a healer and protector than a fighter.

"Very well then… let's get going."

Ready as they would ever be, the trio headed out the front of the shop which currently had a sign reading 'Closed until further notice'. As they headed off, Sesshomaru looked back at the two women and softly pressed his fingers to his lips, eyes locked on Rin's who allowed a small smile before he turned to follow the others towards the train station.

The red haired demoness placed a gentle hand on the human's shoulder just as they left their line of sight. "You care for them deeply."

"They are my family. I love them all equally."

"Equally?" Holly said knowingly.

The other blushed slightly. "Well… maybe not equally… I might have… feelings for some more than others."

"I see." The demoness said with a grin. "Well then, come inside. Lets find something to do that will help take your mind off things."

As the two headed back into the shop and locked the door, Sesshomaru and the others headed for the train station, the golden gates their planned destination. Sitting on the train, the three were silent, there thoughts their own and private until Tarn turned to his student who was looking blankly out the window. "She will be alright Sesshomaru." He said, getting his attention. "Madam Holly will look after her."

"I know." He said curtly, looking back out. "I can't help but worry."

"Sesshomaru, it is natural that you worry about those you love."

His reaction to the words was little more than a blink as he continued to watch the world outside the train. "It's not just that." He said after a while. "Even if we do save her from this… we can never be truly together. Not really. Not forever."

Tarn nodded sombrely. "Yes. Even with time slowed, you will outlive her. That is the burden of a human and demon relationship."

"Let's concentrate on her seeing the New Year in. Then I will think about our future."

With a nod, everyone went back to silent thoughts, even as they arrived at the Central station and the train called for everyone not with permission to pass the gate to get off. A conductor came to check their tickets and cleared them for crossing and, after a long stop at the station, they continued on into the great gate itself. There was a brief moment of discomfort as they were shocked by the energy between worlds but then they were surrounded by a whole new world.

Throughout the train there were sounds of amazement as those who had never seen the human world suddenly took in the blue sky and the glowing sun above. The train soon announced that everyone should not stare directly at the sun for their owns safety but the Dryshore demons had made the crossing before and weren't interested in the sky and more in the pointer Kusu was wearing as it began to work once more, pointing them towards the west.

When the train pulled into the station, they climbed off and headed started to follow the device, out of the human side of Central and into the green lands around it. They had expected the Knizzal to be quite far from the city so had packed food and provisions for a long journey, deciding it was faster to go by foot than to take public transport since they didn't know when the pointer would change directions and none of them knew how to drive a human car.

Instead they walked, the sun above them an easy way to tell how long they had been in the human world. By the forth setting, they decided to sit by the roadside and rest, Tarn touching his watch to see how long it had been for Rin and chuckled on seeing that only an hour had passed. They wanted to send her a message but knew that Hinus rings only worked when both rings were in the same world.

As they carried on, they were quite surprised to see that the pointer kept leading them in an almost true line, not twisting at all meaning the creature was still. Tarn had a theory that since it was almost winter in the human world, the creature was probably getting ready to hibernate or take some action to ensure its survival. Either way, it made their task easier as they followed.

Nine days after entering the human world, they found the pointer directing them into a large building that stood in the middle of nowhere, the place quite large with three stories and lots of windows, made up of stone bricks and a slate roof, a large archway marked the entrance while before it was a sign that read "Angel Wing Hospital."

Tarn glanced at the pointer as it glowed, meaning they were close to the beast then looked at the building. "It's in there?"

"This place looks abandoned." Kusu said, looking over the building. Most of the windows were covered with boards and the trees and bushes near the front were overgrown and wild. "No one has been here for a very long time."

"Let's head inside. If the Knizzal is hibernating as we expect, this would be a good place for it to hide."

Sesshomaru looked over the building once more as they headed for the entrance. "Something feels off about this place." He said as they went inside.

"I agree." Tarn whispered. "Everyone, stay on your guard."

As they pulled over the door to the entrance, they were met with a surprising view. The front area, where it had once been a reception was clean, the lights on around them and looking as if someone had just stepped out. They half expected someone to come from behind the desk and ask if they had an appointment.

There was a clean sterile feeling to the building, just as would be expected for a hospital but the air was cold, still and silent, not a sound in the air.

Sesshomaru went over to the desk but then shook his head when he saw it was clear of everything apart from a few sticky notes. He read a few and got the impression someone was coming here, cleaning and then leaving but on four weeks of no one being around, they had stopped and told them to call if they still needed a cleaner.

Tarn and Kusu were walking slowly the main hallway, following the lights and finding several rooms on either side, each one with a paper label on the front that explained what was inside. Most were things like 'store room' 'break room' and 'supplies' but as they passed a pair of double doors, the rooms became the same.

"Girls 7." Kusu read then looked at the next. "Girls 8… girls 9… girls 10… and the same for boys? Was this a children's hospital?"

"I don't think so." Tarn said, looking back as he saw Sesshomaru walking towards them then nodded into the room he was beside. They walked in curious and found a room with six beds in it, three on each side of the room. As he opened the door however, he was more interested in the three locks at various heights on the door.

Kusu walked over to one of the bed and knelt down, looking at it and what was around, picking up a magazine from under a pillow. "Tarn, this magazine… its two months old. Whoever was here was here recently."

"Look at this." Sesshomaru called, having picked up a clipboard from the end of the bed. "There are details on the kid, a Jenna Rowe, age, birthday, home town, that they are human… but no reference to if they were sick or anything."

"Same here." Tarn said having checked another bed. "I don't like this guys. Something funny is going on here." With a sigh he dropped the file to the bed then nodded. "Let's keep moving. We can investigate later. We need to find that Knizzal first."

With a nod, the others headed out of the room and down the hallway, finding a staircase and heading upwards where they found a room labelled 'Research 1-3' while next to it was 'Research 4-6'.

Heading into the room marked one to three, they were met with a room full of papers, each wall covered with a mind map of images, files and string that connected them all. Sesshomaru walked to one and looked over the photos and information but most of it was foreign to him, talking about some demon who lived in the human world in a town called Pinestall.

Tarn was looking at another wall when his eyes went wide. "Is that… me?" He gasped, stepping over to see the image clearer. "By the gods, it is me! Why do they have a picture of me on their wall?"

"And look." Kusu said, heading over to the board, pointing to some other photos beside his image. "That's Gregory Heydon. And Blair Mavis. And… Leighton Dewitt. Tarn… they have images of most of your Satremons!"

"But why?"

"Look here." Sesshomaru added, looking at the text above Tarn's image. "Says here; known previous Satremons; eighteen… eleven female, seven male… fifteen humans, three demons… average age 10. It's like they are collecting data on you."

"Sesshomaru." Tarn said, voice stern. "Look."

A long line of thread lead from the data to another image that they all recognised.

"Rin?" Sesshomaru whispered, pulling the photo away from the wall. It showed her back when Tarn had found her, when she had been just 10 years old, the photo in a formal, almost passport style. He turned the page over and read some notes off the back. "_Rin Edith Colfield. Age 10. Human. Successfully infected and… integrated_."

"Successfully infected and integrated?"

"That's what it says."

Kusu shook her head as she took the picture from him. "All this time we thought it was an accident Rin got infected but now you are saying that she was chosen and it was deliberate?"

Tarn nodded. "It would appear someone researched me and my previous Satremons… then picked a subject that I would be more likely to take in and make my charge… but why?"

Sesshomaru walked away from the wall filled with Tarn's information and looked over the other walls instead. "Look, this demon here, she also takes in Satremons regularly… normally girls around the 7 year age mark… and she has one assigned to her too! They didn't do this to just you Tarn, they did this to all these demons."

"Research four to six… that means there could be as many as six demons who have Satremons infected by Knizzal venom. But why? Why do this? What is their aim?"

Tarn looked over the information on his wall then pulled away a page, following a red string to a face he knew well. "Ohh by the gods."

"What is it?"

"Hollina."

"What?"

"I think I know what they were doing." He muttered with a sigh, stepping away and looking at all the information on the boards. "This is an attack."

"What? How?"

"They research demons who celebrate Satremons… find suitable children then infect them with Knizzal venom, then leave them in places for the demons to take them in. And then, when that child dies at the end of the year, the demon becomes infected."

"So… the demon is infected, dies at the end of the next year…"

"And then those near him are infected."

The oldest of the group nodded. "And if I was dying, who is the one demon I would want near me?"

Kusu nodded. "Hollina."

"They are using Rin to get to Hollina. And Hollina would then be infected and would return to her group of students and when they die it would go on and on and on."

Sesshomaru let out a breath. "It would create a pandemic."

"One that would take years to take effect but with time, it would kill millions and it would never stop."

"But why would someone do this? What is there to gain from infecting all these people? I mean it would attack humans and demons alike. Attacks normally only aim at one side, human or demon but this would take out both worlds."

"Maybe they just want to watch the world burn… or maybe take out the demon council. Maybe they have a cure for Knizzal venom and will sell it, I don't know. But we need to find this creature and kill it. We can stop this attack before it starts."

"Sesshomaru." Kusu said with a shake of her head. "We need to get out of here. We need to call the authorities and let them deal with this if this is as serious as you are making out."

"We leave here and all this will disappear." Sesshomaru countered, waving a hand at the papers around him. "We don't know who is here or when they will return but if we leave, we risk losing all this and for them to hide the Knizzal."

"Sesshomaru is right Kusu. We need to deal with this ourselves."

The demoness sighed then nodded. "Alright."

"Right, we keep moving, keep an eye open for the Knizzal but if you find anyone else, try to disarm them, not harm them."

"Yes sir."

With a nod, they moved out of the research room, trying to find where the creature was. Guessing whoever was behind all this would keep it locked up, they checked every room and corner they could see.

Eventually they came to the end of the wing with no result, so turned back to the reception and went the other way, down another hallway to a set of doors which was where they noticed a change. Every door they had come across to that point had been unlocked but now they were faced by a locked one that took all of Tarn and Sesshomaru's strength to open, breaking it almost off its hinges to get past and even then, on the other side they found a pile of tables, chairs and other supplies piled against it as a barricade.

Pushing it away, they found this side of the hospital a complete opposite to the other side; the walls were dark and dirty, there was rubbish on the floors and things upturned where they did not belong. The hallway stank to the demons of blood and soon Tarn found a small pile of bones lying near the wall.

Kneeling, he picked one up and looked it over. "Human." He informed the others, Kusu keeping a few steps back while Sesshomaru peered cautiously at it.

"What are those marks on it?"

"I would have to guess… teeth marks."

"This person was eaten?"

"Looks like it."

"By what?"

"I don't know." The master said, putting the bone back as gently as he could before standing and looking around, drawing his blade from his side. "But I think it is still here."

"Why do you say that?" Kusu asked as she and Sesshomaru drew their weapons, keeping them lowered to the ground as they looked around.

"The door was locked and barricaded from the inside." He explained, nodding to the trollies they had climbed over. "Whoever this person was… or if there were others here… they chose to lock themselves in with whatever did this." He moved a lot slower now as he continued on. "They chose to be killed than risk this thing getting out."

Steady, preparing for whatever could have done this, they carried on, heading up the stairs where they heard the first sound they had since entering this place, a constant hissing, like a leaking pipe. The demons froze as they heard it, Tarn looking around to pin down the source. Finger to his lip to warn them to be silent, he pointed in one direction, leading them towards the source.

The door to the room was hanging limply from one hinge, the wood covered in long scratches as something had struggled to get past it. Creeping closer, they peaked inside to find a large room with the remains of cages all around it, spells written around them, probably to keep whatever had been inside alive but now they were all empty.

In the middle of the room was a large mess of mix match objects; papers, fabric that had once been clothes, bones, sparkling bits of metal and other things, the nest taking up most of the room while inside it was a creature larger than any of them, the top of its body just about touching the roof of the room, asleep in its nest, hissing as it did.

Sesshomaru could only stare in horror at it. The one he had seen in his dream was only as large as a male torso but this one was so much bigger, the wings alone almost equal to him. As they watched, the creature rolled over in its sleep, revealing its head and the mouth that was full of fangs only slightly smaller than their swords, thick gold venom dripping from each one and pooling on the floor, solidifying on the nest.

Eyes locked on the creature, Master Tarn nodded to the others and held out his hand for them to wait as he looked down to the floor. Slowly he worked his way towards it, watching his footsteps to ensure he didn't make a sound until he was right next to it. Holding his nerve, he lifted his blade above his head and prepared to swing down on the point between head and body.

Just as his blade began to come down… the eyes opened.


	27. Part 9: Poveromo Chapter 3

Part 9: Poveromo (18 Years old - November) Chapter 3

The eyes snapped open as the beast pulled back, Tarn's swing going wide and missing completely, the demon staggering back as the thing stood, hissing loud and clearly angry at having intruders. Each of its eyes were as black as night with no idea what it was looking at as it stood, still, venom dripping to the floor with a growl.

Tarn walked slowly backwards and away from it but as he did, the Knizzal turned to him, jaws stretched open wide as it tried to bite him but the demon raised his blade to block the attack while Kusu and Sesshomaru charged in as well, trying to take the creature out while it was still disorientated .

Keeping the head busy, Tarn grabbed one of the teeth and pushed them away from him, his hand soon coated in the thick slime but the beast was much stronger than he hoped and pushed back his feet slipping on the floor, losing his ground.

Suddenly it stopped pushing and howled in pain, turning its attention to the cause of its pain, seeing the silver haired demon trying to pull his sword out from its hind quarters but the blade was stuck tight.

He had to abandon it when the beast turned to him, teeth planning to rip him to shred in return for the pain he had caused. Unarmed, Sesshomaru had no choice but to run as the creature lunged for him, wings spread wide as it ran for where he had been as he barrelled through the door.

The creature rammed into the door and took it and half the wall, into the hallway outside, the rubble falling to the floor all around them and creating small pools of dust.

In the larger area, the Knizzal took to the air, wings beating like a bee's to support its massive size. Sesshomaru stared at it as he found cover behind an abandoned desk. The head turned from side to side, hiss low and menacing as it searched for it's pray.

From the room where it had been nesting, Tarn and Kusu watched as well, waiting to see what would happen.

Slowly the beast landed on a support rod for the roof, still searching for them which caused Sesshomaru to frown but when he saw Tarn carefully beaconing him over to him, he moved to regroup. He kept his body low and his movements slow, not taking his eyes from the beast that was still close by but so far it hadn't spotted him.

Then he stepped on some broken glass and the resulting crunch was deafening in the silence. The beast's head turned directly to him and it leapt up into the air, flying right for the cause. Sesshomaru gave a sudden yelp as he was tackled and thrown across the hallway into a wall, collapsing down with a thud. Shaking himself, he grunted and looked up, his back and side throbbing but he pushed past it as he jumped out of the way of another attack, his head spinning a bit as he found his balance not quite right.

"Sesshomaru! Over here!"

He looked up to see Kusu and Tarn by a different door, holding it open and waving him towards them.

Jumping around the beast, Sesshomaru ran to it and skidded inside, Tarn and Kusu slamming it shut before the beast could follow him.

Panting for breath, Sesshomaru held his side and groaned. "This... is not what we planned."

"How are we going to kill this thing?" Kusu asked as she pushed on the door while the beast rammed against it from the other side.

Tarn shook his head as he tried to think. "I have no idea. I've never fought something like this before."

"Well, I will tell you one thing; it's blind." Sesshomaru commented as he took a potion from Kusu to help with the pain of his injuries.

"Are you sure?"

"It was looking right at me but had no idea where it was. This thing hunts by sound and... I dunno, maybe smell? But I am certain it's blind."

Tarn looked down as he thought but the pounding against the door was a constant reminder that their target was hunting them now. "Okay, I have an idea but it's a little risky. Kusu, do you have any of the scent enhancers left?

"Enhancers? Don't you want maskers?"

"No, because we are going to enhance the beast's senses, overload them."

"Won't that make it easier for this thing to find us?"

"Not if Sesshomaru is right about it being blind." Tarn explained with a nod. "With the collection of smells in this place, it should be impossible to pin just us."

"Should." Kusu repeated.

"Nothing is ever certain." The master sighed. "So here is the plan; we will open the door when that thing rams it, throw the enhancer at it and overload its senses. Then we get past it, split up and when you find somewhere to hide, get there and keep still and silent. Once the creature stops looking, whoever is furthest will cause a distraction and the other two try to take it out."

"That thing has a hide thicker than steel." Sesshomarug reminded him. "How are we going to get it?"

"Still working on that part. Hopefully we will be able to see something that will help us. Now, Kusu, the enhancers?"

Passing over three small bottles, Kusu held the others hand tight. "Be careful."

"I will. Now, get ready."

They moved into position, listening to the bangs as the beast continued to ram against the door, working out the beat and when it was time for another attack, Tarn pulled back his throwing arm. "NOW!" He shouted.

Kusu threw open the door as the creature charged, getting half stuck in the frame as it screamed out. At that moment Tarn threw the vials into its face, the liquid splashed out over its eyes and into the mouth.

Quickly it pushed against the door frame and flew backwards, slamming into walls as it was blinded by the potion. With the doorway free, the demons ran out and each found a location to watch the beast, keeping low as it flew around.

It took a while but finally the Knizzal settled on top of a pillar, using two of its hands to clean the potion away, hissing loudly as it did.

Kusu, Tarn and Sesshomaru all looked at each other, judging to see who was the furthest from it. Sesshomaru had used the time to get higher, up to the second level and was hiding behind another pillar. Kusu was behind the one the Knizzal was sitting on top of it and Tarn had taken position near the main entrance.

As he judged the others, Tarn took a deep breath, realising he was in the best position to be the bait. Sesshomaru and Kusu had also worked out the same thing as they looked at him, waiting for him to move.

Clutching his sword tighter, the master took a deep breath then bolted from his hiding place, grabbing a metal chair and began hitting it on the floor. "Hey! Ugly! Over here! Come on! Come and get me!"

The noise clearly angered the heightened senses of the beast as it snarled and took to the air, zoning in on him instantly. As soon as he moved, Sesshomaru and Kusu moved as well, regrouping behind the beast as it went past him flying past towards Tarn who dove out of the way and collided with the chair. The resulting noise of Knizzal and metal chair filled the air and the beast screamed at the over load of hearing.

Glad his plan was working, Tarn picked up an old metal pan and began banging it on the wall like before then threw it in the other direction, listening as it crashed and the beast's wings took to the air once more. As he ran the other way, leaping over some rubble, something pieced the leather of his boot and his leg was pulled out from under him, forcing him to the ground. As he gasped and panted from the pain, he turned to see the beast glaring at him with his foot inside its mouth, thick venom leaking out with blood and over his trousers.

Just looking at it made him feel sick but as the shock wore off, he suddenly screamed and tried to pull his leg free but the beast held on and he could feel his skin began ripped with each struggle.

Hearing him scream, Kusu and Sesshomaru turned to see their teacher with his leg being eaten and in a fury, Kusu ran forwards and swung her blade for its eyes. "Get off him you monster!" She shouted.

The Knizzal did release him as she charged, blood gushing from the open wound and while the beast flew back, the green haired demoness collapsed down at his side and began to tend to his wound. The beast meanwhile was growling at the pair but soon turned when a rock collided with its head.

Sesshomaru huffed and threw another rock at it as it bounced off. "Come on! Come get me!"

The beast growled at him but oddly didn't attack, but instead began to turn the two of them, looking between Kusu and a now unconscious Tarn and the lone Sesshomaru. As it did, Sesshomaru began to notice something strange about the creature, the way it was curling its lower body under itself.

Frowning, he reached down and picked up Tarn's blade from where it had fallen before nodding. "I got you now."


	28. Part 9: Poveromo Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – Endings

Across the lands, in Dryshore, Rin was stood at the front of the store, sweeping the dirt from outside into a neat pile. The repetitive and normal action was soothing for her trouble mind and helped her relax, losing herself in the chore.

The store was closed, as it had been for the last 9 days, since the rest of the staff had left to fight the monster in an unknown place. She paused in her chore and looked at her hand, sighing as she realised that nothing had changed.

"Rin? Are you okay?" Holly asked as she leant on the shop counter.

"It's been 9 days." She sighed. "Even with the time difference, they have been gone over… 6 months on the human side. Surely they should be back?"

The red haired demoness looked down and sighed. "They have been a while but they will be back. Anyway, we need to keep everything ready for when they return. And that means cleaning the shop. So get to it young one." She said with a point to the broom in her hands.

Smiling at the command, Rin got back to her work and continued sweeping, keeping her mind on her task but she did glance up at the door, looking at the sign that marked the store as closed. A little bit of her wondered if it would ever open again but she got back to work, humming as she worked to clean all the bottles and remove any that were out of date.

"Rin! Can you come in here please?"

Putting a cleaning cloth down, she picked up the dead products and returned to the back room where Holly was working but as she entered, she gasped and smiled, almost dropping the tray as she ran over. "Sesshomaru!"

Arms around her, the two embraced tightly and she felt his heart pick up under her ear. He sighed into her ear as they held tight. "Rin, I've missed you so much."

"It's been too long." She sighed then pushed him back slightly, frowning. "Wait… where's… where are Kusu and Tarn?"

The silver haired man sighed as he looked over at Holly who had been hanging up his coat. "There… there was an accident."

The two gasped as the words and the stepped back a little. "Wait… what?"

"The Knizzal was… a lot harder to fight than we expected and Tarn was hurt. He's in a hospital, on the human side of the bridge." He paused then shook his head. "They… they had to remove his leg. The damage was too serious. As soon as he woke up, he told me to come here and find you."

Covering her mouth, Rin turned to the elder who looked pale and distant suddenly before nodding. "I should go to him."

"I'll come with you."

"No, Rin." Sesshomaru said, holding her shoulder. "Tarn gave me clear instructions that until we can be sure you are cured you are to stay here. He wants to be sure that if anything… if anything goes wrong, you have all of us there to protect you. We can't be worried about Tarn and you."

Seeing the logic, she exhaled deeply then nodded. "Alright. I guess that makes sense."

"I'm sorry Rin." Holly said from the side as she pulled out her coat. "But it's for the best. And Sesshomaru can stay with you. Besides, with the time delay between the worlds, it will probably be just a few days before we can bring him home." She gave the pair a smirk. "And two you get to stay home alone while we are gone."

Even Sesshomaru blushed a bit at the words but he couldn't help but smile at them. "Shall I escort you to the station Madam?"

"I will be fine Sesshomaru. But which hospital is he at?"

"Bellevue, just on the other side of the golden gate."

"Thank you. We will be home soon, look after the shop."

"Yes Madam." They both said, smiling at how the demoness reminded them of her student and their mentor.

With her coat on, the red haired demoness left via the back door and the younger pair were left alone. Slowly, Rin walked over and slid her fingers into Sesshomaru's hand, holding his hand tightly. "I'm glad you are back safe. But I'm sorry it was so hard."

"Rin." He sighed, turning and pulled her in for another hug. "We accepted the risk when we went there. We wanted to save you no matter the cost. The beast is dead now and we even made sure that its body was destroyed after the investigation."

"Investigation? What investigation?"

He coughed and nodded, taking a seat at the kitchen table. "Turns out that this wasn't… an accident. You were a trap. It was all a set up. Years in the making."

"What?"

"It's hard to explain but long version… you weren't the only one infected and when we killed it, we stopped an attack that would have killed millions."

Chuckling, she sat on his lap. "That's amazing! You stopped that?"

"Yes but the important part is that we saved you." He smiled and kissed her gently. "Did anything happen with you? Has… anything changed?"

"You mean my powers?" She guessed then nodded. "Still got them. I don't know if they will stay but… for now, I still have them."

"Good." He grinned, arms around her. "Don't want to lose the best member of the Dryshore demons."

Rolling her eyes, she hugged him closer. "Tell you what, why don't we have something to eat and turn in? I have barely slept since you left and you look exhausted."

"A hot shower and a burger would be amazing."

"Don't think I can't do a burger but how about a sandwich?"

Chuckling, he nodded. "Sounds good."

After his wash and meal, Sesshomaru decided to head upstairs and to his bedroom, guessing that Rin had gone for a bath but as he opened the door, lying on his bed, was the human, smirking as he looked down at her. "So, there you are." He said, walking over to her. "I was wondering where you were."

"Hope you don't mind me being in here." She said with a small shy smile.

To answer her, Sesshomaru moved closer and leant over, cupping her cheek in his hand and leaning down to kiss her once more. "That answer your question?" He chuckled.

Rin smiled, moving over on the bed to make room for him, letting him snuggle up against her, his arm around her back and hers around his bare chest. For a bit they were silent, just enjoying each other's warmth and comfort.

Eventually, realising that neither of them were going to sleep, Sesshomaru sighed softly. "You know, if we keep this up, Tarn will be able to have his guest bedroom back."

Rin chuckled lightly. "Yeah. I guess so."

They lulled back into the quiet and darkness of the room before the hand on her back rubbed her arm slowly. "I've missed this." He whispered. "All I've had for the last few weeks was lumpy hotels and sleeping on the dirt ground… and listening to Tarn's snoring. It's nice to be home."

Rin nodded as she played with the ends of his hair on his chest. "It hasn't been the same without you around."

"Don't worry." He smiled, holding her hand. "I won't leave again."

Smiling, embedding her head into his shoulder and neck yet still unable to sleep, Rin was silent, thinking over various things that wouldn't let her rest.

Shifting, Sesshomaru squeezed her hand. "Don't worry about Tarn, he'll be fine. He's strong and in the best possible place."

"I know." She whispered, one ear listening to his breathing and heartbeat. "And we will do everything to help him. We both owe him so much, it's the least we can do to help him back."

Nodding, the two of them finally managed to find the sleep that had been avoiding them, spending the next day alone in the shop, slipping back into their normal routines of cleaning and organising, helping to keep their minds off what was going on in the human world.

On the third day since Sesshomaru's return, they were heading back from the market with arms full of shopping, they noticed movement within the store and hurried in to find Kusu and Holly inside. Overjoyed at her return, Rin ran at the pair and hugged the green haired demoness tight. "Kusu! I'm so glad you're back!"

"Is that Rin?" Came a voice from the back room.

Pushing away, Rin hurried to the back and saw her mentor sat at the kitchen table in a metal wheelchair, smiling happily at her. She gasped and walked over to him. "Master Tarn." She said, stopping when she looked down at his leg, one nothing but a stump wrapped in bandages. Swallowing, she fought back tears in her eyes. "Tarn."

A warm hand held hers and she looked up, looking into his eyes. "Rin, are you alright?"

She nodded softly. "Yes sir."

"Then it was worth it." He squeezed her hand tighter. "Come, we have a lot to talk about. Including about the newest member of the council of demons and what she has found."

As the group sat around the table and talked about their adventure and discovery, it was clear that a lot was about to change and a month later they were summoned to the grand council hall of Haword House.

Dressed in their finest clothes, the demons and human stood in the middle of the great circular room, every single seat filled with demons from across the world, all of them gathered together for this one moment looking down on the three demons and the rare human that had been allowed into the council house.

Another demon was before them, his hair a short pale purple and clean cut while he wore a long red formal jacket with golden trim and jewellery covering his clothes and face. He looked young but the air of power around him was more than any in the room as he nodded to the others. "Kusunoki Vallario, Sesshomaru Lemert, Rin Edith Colfield and Tarnanok Petruzzelli. We are gathered here tonight in recognition of your brave and heroic act. One month ago you discovered a plot that would have destroyed the worlds as we know them. But you were able to stop it and saved the worlds."

The group of four looked at each other with a smile while the council chairman addressed them. "Your bravery saved so many lives. You are heroes of our times and you will never be forgotten for your courage and skills. So, as thanks you for this act, the council of Haword House will give you anything that is within our power to give."

The youngest members of the group looked at each other as their master stepped forwards, his right trouser leg cut above the knee to show the metal and wood that made up his new false leg.

Tarn nodded softly to the council leader but his eyes glanced over his shoulder to where the red haired demoness that was the newest member of the council, Hollina Sanel sat, giving him a small smile and nod, encouraging him to carry on.

With a deep breath, the master turned to the council leader. "Grand council, I thank you for the honour you have bestowed on me and my household. I thank you for your offer and with your permission, I know what to request."

"Then speak. What would you wish for?"

Glancing back at the human as she held the older demons hand, their eyes locked only on each other, their feelings clear. Turning back to the council again, he raised his head slightly more. "I wish for a way for Rin to see the snow again and again. I wish for a way for her to remain with the demon she loves. For them to be together for as long as long as time allows." There were already whispers around the council as he spoke the final words. "I wish for her to become a demon like us."

The whispers grew louder and continued upwards to the roof of the hall but the council chairman stepped forwards to be closer to Tarn. "Think carefully Tarnanok." He muttered only to him. "You could have anything. You could become a member of the council. You could be given a grand house or school. You could have anything. You could have your leg back. Do not waste this opportunity on a human."

"She is my Satremon, my student and as close to a daughter as I will ever have." Tarn hissed back to him. "I want her to live the rest of her life with the man she loves. I know there is a potion that will allow her to become a demon."

The Chairman blinked. "How do you know…" He stopped and turned quickly to the new councillor who gave him a smirk and a small cheeky wave. "Hollina."

"She told me about the forbidden potion. So, are you going to do it or are you going to break your word?"

The chairman frowned at him before sighing in defeat. "Very well. We will need time prepare the potion. Until it is prepared, return to Dryshore."

With a polite bow, Tarn smiled and turned to his family, walking out of the council room and into the main area of the house. "Well, that went well."

"Is there really a potion that will turn me into a demon?" Rin asked as they headed to the path once more.

"Hollina saw it herself." The demon said with a nod. "And now the council will have to make it for us." He smiled, holding her shoulder comfortingly. "I promised you, you would see spring again and many times to come. This way, you will see hundreds. And you can be with the man you love."

Sesshomaru smiled a bit at the words. "And I get to be with the woman I love. And, before I forget…" He moved a little closer to her, whispering into her ear.

The others nearby couldn't hear what he was saying but they were able to see the human's reaction as her eyes widened and her smile grew before she looked back at him. "Yes."

~#~

Weeks later, with a thick layer of snow on the ground, the silver haired demon and the rest of his family were stood around him, a fire burning in a metal stand before him.

After a second he heard a shuffle in the snow and turned to see a demoness with dark pink hair approaching, her dress long and white with a thick fur around her neck for the cold weather, her eyes a fluorescent green sparkled as they looked at him. Her body was in a long thick dress with embroidery across the bodice and down the skirt, looking stunning in the white snow around them and the bright blue sky above.

Sesshomaru smiled as he held out his hand for her, holding it loosely as he helped her walk through the snow at her feet. "You look beautiful." He whispered to her, leaning over and kissing her cheek.

"I never thought… this would ever happen."

"You are the one who agreed to marry me." He reminded her.

"Yes, I did." She grinned. "But… as a demoness, in the human world… in the snow?" She glanced around them, looking at Kusu and Tarn as well as Hollina and a few of the people from Dryshore. "I'll never forget this."

"Nor will I. Every time I see the snow, I will remember the day I married the woman I love more than I can ever express."

"And we will see it for years to come now. Together."

With a smile, hand in hand, they turned to the fire while Hollina stepped forwards to them and began the ceremony to bind them together, tying a golden rope around their wrists before casting a spell to turn it into two bracelets, the demon equivalent of wedding rings. The whole ceremony was silent but as the bands settled, everyone witnessing the union broke out into applause and cheers while Sesshomaru was quick the grab his new wife and kiss her.

"Together forever."

**The End**


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